The current Council of State was established by the French Consulate government in 1799 as a judicial body mandated to adjudicate claims against the State and assist in the drafting of important laws. The First Consul (later Emperor) presided over Council sessions, and the Council performed many of the functions of a Cabinet. After the Bourbon Restoration, the Council was retained as an administrative court but without its former prominence. Its role was more precisely defined by an 1872 Act of Parliament.