Royal prerogative
Acts of parliament are supreme over the crown
“Executive power is the power of governments. It is the legal authority vested in, and exercised by, for
example, prime ministers, presidents, cabinets, and councils. It is the political power that all those who
embark on a career in politics dream of wielding. It is the power to set policy, take action, and to
implement the law. In the great theory of the separation of powers that has hovered over western
constitutional thinking since the mid eighteenth century, the preserve of the executive is to do. While the
role of the legislature is to speak and that of the judiciary is to judge, governments act.
Craig & Tomkins, ‘Introduction’ The Executive & Public Law (2006
The privy council
- Membership for life
- By convention all cabinet ministers are members of the privy council
- Meets in secret
- Main business is to pass orders in council in council either – a form of primary legislation (similar
to acts of parliament), or a form of delegated legislation (passed under an act of parliament)
- Once of great importance, now superseded by cabinet.
Three sources of the governments power
Statute law: acts of parliament or delegated legislation
Prerogative powers- specific legal powers which are recognised by the courts as part of the common law.
“Third source” powers- derive from the ideal that there is no law preventing the government from acting
in a certain manner.
What is the royal prerogative?
‘That special pre-eminence which the King hath, over and above all other persons, and out of the
ordinary course of the common law, in right of his Royal dignity … it can only be applied to those rights
and capacities which the King enjoys alone, in contradistinction to others’.
The crown
- The monarch used to exercise these powers; but monarchs exercised these powers after seeking
the advice of the “council” -the privy council…
- As monarch played less of a role the powers were exercised by ministers, who were later led by
the prime minister
By convention: within the legal concept of the crown
- Government departments emerged, and grew ever larger in size
- Ministers now exercise powers which are either (largely) either prerogative or statute
Residue of power
Acts of parliament are supreme over the crown
“Executive power is the power of governments. It is the legal authority vested in, and exercised by, for
example, prime ministers, presidents, cabinets, and councils. It is the political power that all those who
embark on a career in politics dream of wielding. It is the power to set policy, take action, and to
implement the law. In the great theory of the separation of powers that has hovered over western
constitutional thinking since the mid eighteenth century, the preserve of the executive is to do. While the
role of the legislature is to speak and that of the judiciary is to judge, governments act.
Craig & Tomkins, ‘Introduction’ The Executive & Public Law (2006
The privy council
- Membership for life
- By convention all cabinet ministers are members of the privy council
- Meets in secret
- Main business is to pass orders in council in council either – a form of primary legislation (similar
to acts of parliament), or a form of delegated legislation (passed under an act of parliament)
- Once of great importance, now superseded by cabinet.
Three sources of the governments power
Statute law: acts of parliament or delegated legislation
Prerogative powers- specific legal powers which are recognised by the courts as part of the common law.
“Third source” powers- derive from the ideal that there is no law preventing the government from acting
in a certain manner.
What is the royal prerogative?
‘That special pre-eminence which the King hath, over and above all other persons, and out of the
ordinary course of the common law, in right of his Royal dignity … it can only be applied to those rights
and capacities which the King enjoys alone, in contradistinction to others’.
The crown
- The monarch used to exercise these powers; but monarchs exercised these powers after seeking
the advice of the “council” -the privy council…
- As monarch played less of a role the powers were exercised by ministers, who were later led by
the prime minister
By convention: within the legal concept of the crown
- Government departments emerged, and grew ever larger in size
- Ministers now exercise powers which are either (largely) either prerogative or statute
Residue of power
