Law and Rights
The Cabinet Office has published Guidance from the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and one particular guidance document relates to the Queen or Prince's Consent (the guidance). This guidance sets out some of the issues that arise when considering whether 'Queen?s or Prince?s consent' should be signified to a bill and contains information about the signification of consent.
The Queen?s consent needs to be considered in the case of -
? provisions affecting the prerogative, and
? provisions affecting the hereditary revenues, the Duchy of Lancaster or the Duchy of Cornwall, and personal property or personal interests of the Crown.
Queen's or Prince's consent is not to be confused with Royal Assent. The granting of Queen's or Prince's consent for a bill is merely consent for Parliament to debate the bill and does not affect the right of the monarch to withhold royal assent to the bill. That said, by convention, Royal Assent is never refused for a bill that has successfully negotiated its way through Parliament - (see the guidance at para. 7.11). Some lawyers hold the view that, in some perhaps extreme circumstances, this convention could be ignored and Royal Assent refused. As a matter of strict law, that must be right but the 'binding force' of a convention rests in the possible consequences of not following it.
The Cabinet Office has published the material as a result of a decision of the Information Rights Tribunal - see BBC 15th January 2013 and The Guardian 15th January. The Cabinet Office fought against the publication of the 30-page internal guidance in a 15-month freedom of information dispute which ended with the Information Rights Tribunal ruling against the Cabinet Office.
The existence of the consent procedure has been known for many years but it is extraordinary that information relating to the legislative process should be in any way secretive in a modern democracy. It is also extraordinary that Parliament requires Queen's or Prince's consent to even debate certain bills. Of course, these processes reflect the point that sovereignty in the U.K. rests with the 'Queen in Parliament.' The publication of this document is hardly likely to shake the constitutional foundations of modern Britain but the fight to keep it under wraps demonstrates the secrecy endemic in much of British administration.
Related items:
Matters Royal 31st October 2011
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Law and Rights
Queen's or Prince's Consents
The Queen?s consent needs to be considered in the case of -
? provisions affecting the prerogative, and
? provisions affecting the hereditary revenues, the Duchy of Lancaster or the Duchy of Cornwall, and personal property or personal interests of the Crown.
Queen's or Prince's consent is not to be confused with Royal Assent. The granting of Queen's or Prince's consent for a bill is merely consent for Parliament to debate the bill and does not affect the right of the monarch to withhold royal assent to the bill. That said, by convention, Royal Assent is never refused for a bill that has successfully negotiated its way through Parliament - (see the guidance at para. 7.11). Some lawyers hold the view that, in some perhaps extreme circumstances, this convention could be ignored and Royal Assent refused. As a matter of strict law, that must be right but the 'binding force' of a convention rests in the possible consequences of not following it.
The Cabinet Office has published the material as a result of a decision of the Information Rights Tribunal - see BBC 15th January 2013 and The Guardian 15th January. The Cabinet Office fought against the publication of the 30-page internal guidance in a 15-month freedom of information dispute which ended with the Information Rights Tribunal ruling against the Cabinet Office.
The existence of the consent procedure has been known for many years but it is extraordinary that information relating to the legislative process should be in any way secretive in a modern democracy. It is also extraordinary that Parliament requires Queen's or Prince's consent to even debate certain bills. Of course, these processes reflect the point that sovereignty in the U.K. rests with the 'Queen in Parliament.' The publication of this document is hardly likely to shake the constitutional foundations of modern Britain but the fight to keep it under wraps demonstrates the secrecy endemic in much of British administration.
Related items:
Matters Royal 31st October 2011
View PDF of Information Commissioner Decision Notice FS50425063
Information Rights Tribunal Decisions
- Royal Concerns Over The Succession To The Crown Bill
In 2011, it was announced that agreement had been reached with those countries where HM The Queen is Head of State that the law would be amended so that succession to the Crown will not depend on gender. The announcement followed the Commonwealth...
- 60 Years A Queen: The Diamond Jubilee
HM Queen Elizabeth IIWriting in The Telegraph on 29th January 2012, Hugo Vickers recalled some of the events surrounding the King's death on the morning of 6th February 1952 - "Diamond Jubilee: the moment that Princess Elizabeth became Queen." Perhaps...
- Royal Marriages - Succession To The Crown - Religion And The Crown
Instrument of ConsentHer Majesty The Queen has consented to the marriage of His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales and Catherine Elizabeth Middleton. The marriage is to be celebrated at Westminster Abbey, London on 29th April 2011. ...
- The Cabinet Manual - New Draft
The Cabinet Office has published a draft Cabinet Manual which sets out the main laws, rules and conventions affecting the conduct and operation of Government. Read the draft Cabinet ManualThe Manual gives an overview of the UK system of Government,...
- Formal Powers Of The Crown: New Acts Of Parliament: General Election
Tuesday 6th April: Gordon Brown went to Buckingham Palace and asked H.M. The Queen to Dissolve parliament. She duly obliged. A number of Bills were then passed into law as part of the so-called "wash up". Each of those Bills quickly...