INTRODUCTION
The British King’s royal prerogatives included appointing the prime minister, granting pardons, and representing the nation diplomatically. In a parliamentary state, the executive consists of three parts, the Queen/Crown, the Cabinet and the civil service. The Queen/Crown is the formal or nominal executive. The Cabinet is the real executive.
The Crown and the Cabinet together constitute the political executive. The civil service is the permanent executive; in as much as the tenure of office of civil servants is endless, every executive body has different powers, functions and positions in the Government.
MEANING OF ROYAL PREROGATIVES
The special rights, powers and immunities to which the Crown is entitled alone under the common law are known to be the Royal Prerogatives.
DEFINITION OF ROYAL PREROGATIVES
According to Dicey:
The residue of discretionary or arbitrary authority, which at any time is legally left in the hands of the Crown. Every Act which the executive Government can lawfully do without the power of an act of Parliament is done by this prerogative.
CLASSIFICATION OF ROYAL PREROGATIVES:
Prerogatives of the Crown may be classified as:
(A) Personal Prerogatives of Crown
(B) Political prerogatives of Crown
(A) PERSONAL PREROGATIVES OF CROWN:
Personal prerogatives of the Crown are the following. The Crown exclusively enjoys them.
(i) King/Crown Can Do No Wrong:
King can do no wrong is one of the prerogatives of the King. This has a two-fold meaning. It is discussed as follows;
(a) In the first place, it means that by no proceeding known to the law can the King be made personally responsible for any act done by him.
(b) In the second place, it means that no one can plead the orders of the Crown to defend any act not otherwise justifiable by law. Thus, the statement implies that the King/Crown of England cannot be held responsible for anything done in his name because no order of the King is effective unless it is counter, signed by some minister.
(ii) King/Crown Never Dies:
The King/Crown has the attribute of immortality. The succession immediately follows the demise. There is no interval. The sovereign always exists; the person only dies.
(iii) King/Crown is God’s Minister on Earth:
It implies that he is delegated the authority of God.
(iv) Time Does not Run Against the King/Crown:
There are numerous exceptions to this, e.g. the right of the Crown/King to claim the real property as against the adverse right the subject is barred after 60 years. Similarly, there are numerous instances where criminal proceedings against the Crown officers must be taken within a limited time.
(v) Rights of King/Crown:
When the rights of the King/Crown and the subjects conflict, the latter’s right must give way to the former. When the King/Crown and the subjects are joint owners, the King takes the whole.
(vi) Immunity from Statute:
King/Crown is not bound by the state unless expressly named therein.
(vii) King is Never an Infant:
Royal grants and statutes assented to by an infant King are valid.
(viii) Right of Property:
King/Crown, like other citizens, has the right to own property, to dispose of it or to transfer it to any other person.
(ix) Exemption from Judicial Proceedings:
King/Crown is exempted from all types of judicial proceedings. No proceedings, civil or criminal, are maintainable against the Crown in person. Similarly, no person can plead the Crown/King’s order in justification of the wrongful Act
(x) Expenditure Spent on the Palace:
Expenditure spent on the royal Palace is charged from the consolidated fund of an annual budget, and this part of the budget is not put to vote in the Parliament.
(B) POLITICAL PREROGATIVES OF CROWN:
Political prerogatives of the Crown are further divided into two categories as follows.
(a) Domestic Prerogatives
(b) Foriegn Prerogatives
(a) DOMESTIC PREROGATIVES:
Domestic Prerogatives of the Crown are as follows:
1. Administrative and Executive Prerogatives:
These prerogatives are of the following kinds:
(i) Appointment and Dismissal: The Crown/King appoints all the higher executive and administrative officers such as a prime minister, members of the Cabinet, etc. The Crown/King can remove officers and discharge employees.
(ii) Control of Services: Although many matters regarding the armed forces are regulated by statute, their control cannot be questioned in a court.
(iii) Control of Civil Services: On the advice of the prime minister or other ministers, the sovereign appoints ministers, magistrates, Judges and many other holders of public offices, including the members of royal commissions, to inquire into matters of controversy. Appointments to the civil service are appointments to the benefit of the Crown.
(iv) To Grant Honours: Honours are generally conferred by the sovereign on the prime minister’s advice. Specific honours, namely, the Order of the Garter, the Royal Victoria Order, the Order of Merit and the Order of the Thistle, are personal gifts of the sovereign.
2. Judicial Prerogatives:
These prerogatives are of the following kinds.
(i) Appointment of Judges: On the advice of the prime minister or other ministers, the Judges, magistrates and many other holders of public offices are appointed by the King/Crown.
(b) Prerogatives of Mercy: The king/Crown is the fountain of Justice and general conservator of the peace of the Kingdom. The criminal proceedings run in the King’s name. All prosecutions for offences run in the name of the sovereign, and the sovereign can, with few exceptions, pardon all offenders against criminal law before or after conviction.
3. Legislative Prerogatives:
Legislative Prerogatives of the Crown/King are the following:
(i) To summon, Prorogue and Dissolve Parliament: By the prerogative, the sovereign summons, prorogues and dissolves Parliament.
(ii) Royal assent to Bill: The Crown/King also has the prerogative of giving royal consent to bills which both houses of Parliament have passed.
(iii) Power to Legislate: King/Crown has power at common law to legislate for consequences and ceded colonies. King/Crown also has the statutory authority of legislation by order in council for settled colonies.
(iv) Crown/King not bound by an act of Parliament: The Crown is not bound by an act of Parliament unless it is expressly written in the statute that the Crown, too, is bound by the Act.
4. Ecclesiastical Prerogative:
The crown/King is the head of the Church of England. The crown/King appoints the Arch Bishops of Canterbury and York, Bishops and other church officials.
(b) FOREIGN PREROGATIVES:
Foreign prerogatives of the King/Crown are the following.
(i) Representation of People in International Law: The King/Crown is the nation’s sole representative for international dealings. It is his prerogative to make treaties, cede territory, war and peace, and recognize the statutes of a foreign country or its state.
(ii) Give Recognition to the New States: Prerogatives include the power of the Crown to acquire additional territory, and the prerogatives include the ability to declare or after the limits of the British territorial waters
(iii) Enters into Treaties with Foreign States: It is his prerogative to make treaties, cede territory, make war and peace, and recognize the status of the foreign country or its Government.
(iv) Receives Ambassadors and Diplomats of foreign Countries: The crown/King can appoint the representations of his own country abroad and receive the representatives of other states at his court.
LIMITATIONS UPON ROYAL PREROGATIVES
The prerogative of the Crown is to have certain checks upon itself. These also serve as limitations on the Royal Prerogatives.
(a) Crown Proceedings Act, 1947:
The primary object of the Crown/King Proceedings Act was so far as practicable to place the Crown as a litigant in the same position as a subject. The Act made the Crown liable in tort for the acts and defaults of its servants and agents and for other breaches of duty, which would, if committed by a subject, give the right to liability in tort.
(b) Bill of Rights, 1689:
It is the third great charter of English liberty and the milestone of the constitutional building. After the Magna Carta, it is the most exciting document of English constitutional history. The bill declares the rights and liberties of the subjects and Settles the succession of the Crown.
CONCLUSION
The British Monarch is supreme, and his powers remain un-curtailed. He is still the ultimate executive authority and the final legislative authority. It can be seen that there exists a reservoir of energy, much of which is undefined or, at best, poorly defined, which is not amenable to Judicial or parliamentary control.
FAQs
The crown is an Institution which never dies. Discuss the maxim and enumerate the Crown’s powers, duties and position in England.
(2019-A, 2019-A five years, 2017-A)
The crown is an institution which never dies. Discuss the maxim and enumerate various powers and privileges of the crown
(2015-S)
What do you understand by the Prerogatives of the Crown? How are the prerogatives exercised?
(2011-A, 2008-A)
