Royal Pregatives
THE ROYAL PREROGATIVE
A WHAT IS THE PREROGATIVE?
1. This note seeks to describe as fully as possible the extent of the prerogative. However, as will become clear, the exact limits of the prerogative cannot be categorically defined. The note goes on to describe the way in which the exercise of prerogative power is controlled by Parliament and the Courts.
2. There is no single accepted definition of the prerogative. It is sometimes defined to mean all the common law, ie non-statutory powers, of the Crown. An alternative definition is that the prerogative consists of those common law powers and immunities which are peculiar to the Crown and go beyond the powers of a private individual eg the power to declare war as opposed to the normal common law power to enter a contract.
3. Whichever definition is used there is no exhaustive list of prerogative powers. Some have fallen out of use altogether, probably forever - such as the power to press men into the Navy. It may be of more practical assistance to identify those powers which have been consistently recognised by the courts in the past, mindful of the encroachment into the prerogative as a result of the control exercised by Parliament and the courts.
Domestic Affairs
4. Although this is the area in which legislation has increasingly been introduced thereby limiting the extent of the prerogative, some significant aspects of the prerogative survive in the area of domestic affairs. These include:
the appointment and dismissal of Ministers;
the summoning, prorogation and dissolution of Parliament;
royal assent to Bills;
the appointment and regulation of the civil service;
the commissioning of officers in the armed forces;
directing the disposition of the armed forces in the UK;
the appointment of Queen's Counsel;
the prerogative of mercy. (This no longer saves condemned men from the scaffold but it is still used eg to
A WHAT IS THE PREROGATIVE?
1. This note seeks to describe as fully as possible the extent of the prerogative. However, as will become clear, the exact limits of the prerogative cannot be categorically defined. The note goes on to describe the way in which the exercise of prerogative power is controlled by Parliament and the Courts.
2. There is no single accepted definition of the prerogative. It is sometimes defined to mean all the common law, ie non-statutory powers, of the Crown. An alternative definition is that the prerogative consists of those common law powers and immunities which are peculiar to the Crown and go beyond the powers of a private individual eg the power to declare war as opposed to the normal common law power to enter a contract.
3. Whichever definition is used there is no exhaustive list of prerogative powers. Some have fallen out of use altogether, probably forever - such as the power to press men into the Navy. It may be of more practical assistance to identify those powers which have been consistently recognised by the courts in the past, mindful of the encroachment into the prerogative as a result of the control exercised by Parliament and the courts.
Domestic Affairs
4. Although this is the area in which legislation has increasingly been introduced thereby limiting the extent of the prerogative, some significant aspects of the prerogative survive in the area of domestic affairs. These include:
the appointment and dismissal of Ministers;
the summoning, prorogation and dissolution of Parliament;
royal assent to Bills;
the appointment and regulation of the civil service;
the commissioning of officers in the armed forces;
directing the disposition of the armed forces in the UK;
the appointment of Queen's Counsel;
the prerogative of mercy. (This no longer saves condemned men from the scaffold but it is still used eg to