Royal prerogative: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:29, 25 October 2016

Formal powers of the monarch within the executive process of politics in the UK. These powers are part of common law.

Since Great Britain has a constitutional monarchy, the work that is done by the monarchs in politics is rather symbolic: the work of the monarchs within the remit of the royal prerogative is on behalf of the ministers. [1]

In theory, the monarch has the right to e.g. grant pardons; actually this power is exercised by the Home Secretary/Prime Minister in reality in their own right or through the advice they provide the Queen which she is bound constitutionally to follow. [2]

Sources

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-03861.pdf
Ministry of Justice, The Governance of Britain – Review of the Executive Royal Prerogative Powers: Final Report, October 2009, paras 26-28

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 In theory, the monarch has the right to e.g. grant pardons; actually this power is exercised by the Home Secretary/[[Prime Minister]] in reality in their own right or through the advice they provide the Queen which she is bound constitutionally to follow. [http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-03861.pdf]
-The major royal prerogatives are as following:
-"[Firstly,] The Queen has the right to appoint a [[Prime Minister]]. However, in the 21st century this is convention as opposed to reality. In fact, after an election, the Queen chooses the leader of the majority party to lead the [[House of Commons|Commons]]. However, what happens if the Prime Minister refuses to quit after losing a vote of no confidence is unclear – as it has never happened in recent political history. Theoretically, the monarch can exercise powers of appointment and dismissal. How this would fit in with a democracy is difficult to decide.
-[Secondly,] [t]he monarch has other powers of appointment (ministers, peers, senior [[Church of England|C of E officials]], head of BBC, senior civil servants etc) In reality these are chosen by the Prime Minister; only [[the Order of the Garter]] and [[the Order of Merit]] are at the personal disposal of the Queen. Therefore, a vast amount of power with regards to senior appointments rests with the Prime Minister.
-[Thirdly,] The Queen opens and dissolves [[Parliament]]. She also approves all statutes of law. In reality, the date of a general election is set by the Prime Minister, and the Queen, in the [[State Opening of Parliament]], simply reads out the proposed bills for the next year of a government and plays no part in deciding them. No monarch has refused to give the Royal Assent to a government bill (passed at this stage by both the Commons and Lords) since 1707. Now it would appear to be completely untenable that the Queen would refuse to sign a government bill that had passed the Commons, select committees, the Lords etc. It would spark off a major [...] constitutional crisis" (quoted on: [http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/royal_prerogative.htm]).
-In 2007 and 2009 there were proposals to reform the Royal Prerogative. Specific proposals were made for certain elements of the prerogative, such as the deployment of Armed Forces overseas etc. and the Government published a review of Executive Royal Prerogative Power.
 == Sources ==
 * http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-03861.pdf
-* http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/royal_prerogative.htm
+* Ministry of Justice, ''The Governance of Britain – Review of the Executive Royal Prerogative Powers: Final Report'', October 2009, paras 26-28
-* Ministry of Justice, The Governance of Britain – Review of the Executive Royal Prerogative Powers: Final Report, October 2009, paras 26-28