Royal assent: Difference between revisions

Before the [[Royal Assent by Commission Act 1541]] allowed for delegation of the power to [[Lords Commissioners]], assent was always required to be given by the Sovereign in person before Parliament.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carroll |first=Alex |date=1998 |title=Constitutional and Administrative Law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FU1KAQAAIAAJ |location=London |publisher=Financial Times/Prentice Hall |page=207 |isbn=978-0273625711}}</ref> The last time it was given by the Sovereign in person in Parliament was during the reign of [[Queen Victoria]] at a [[Prorogation in the United Kingdom|prorogation]] on 12 August 1854.<ref>{{cite book |date=1976 |editor-first=David |editor-last=Lidderdale |title=[[Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice|Erskine May's Treatise on The Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament]] |edition=19th |isbn=0-406-29102-0 |page=564|publisher=Butterworths }}</ref>{{efn|This was also the last occasion on which Parliament was prorogued by the monarch in person<ref>{{cite book |date=1976 |editor-first=David |editor-last=Lidderdale |title=[[Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice|Erskine May's Treatise on The Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament]] |edition=19th |isbn=0-406-29102-0 |page=261|publisher=Butterworths }}</ref>}} The Act was repealed and replaced by the [[Royal Assent Act 1967]]. However section 1(2) of that Act does not prevent the Sovereign from declaring assent in person if he or she so desires.

[[Erskine May]]'s ''[[Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice|Parliamentary Practice]]'' advises "...and from that sanction they cannot be legally withheld", meaning that bills must be sent for royal assent, not that it must be given.<ref>{{cite book |date=1976 |editor-first=David |editor-last=Lidderdale |title=[[Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice|Erskine May's Treatise on The Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament]] |edition=19th |isbn=0-406-29102-0 |page=562|publisher=Butterworths }}, citing Hats. p. 339, 13 ''Lords' Journals'', p. 756</ref> However, some authorities have stated that the Sovereign no longer has the power to withhold assent from a bill ''against'' the advice of ministers.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell |first=John |last=Campbell |title=Lives of the Chancellors |volume=III |page=354}}</ref><ref>[[Gilbert Burnet]], ''A History of my Own Time'', vol. II (1734), p. 274.</ref>

During the rule of the succeeding [[House of Hanover|Hanoverian dynasty]], power was gradually exercised more by Parliament and the government. The first Hanoverian monarch, [[George I of Great Britain|George I]], became heir presumptive and then king late in life. Speaking English as a second language and being at first unfamiliar with British politics and customs, he relied on his ministers to a greater extent than had previous monarchs. Later Hanoverian monarchs attempted to restore royal control over legislation: [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] and [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] both openly opposed [[Catholic Emancipation]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Conway |first=Stephen. |title=Book Review: George III: An Essay in Monarchy |url=http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/paper/conwayS2.html Book Review: George III: An Essay in Monarchy |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210054/http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/paper/conwayS2.html |archivedate=27 September 2007 |publisher=The Institute of Historical Research |date=February 2003 |access-date=12 April 2007}}</ref><ref name=Giv>"[https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/george_iv_king.shtml George IV (1762–1830)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225203809/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/george_iv_king.shtml |date=25 December 2019 }}". BBC History. Retrieved 12 April 2007.</ref> and asserted that to grant assent to a Catholic emancipation bill would violate the [[Coronation of the British monarch|Coronation Oath]], which required the sovereign to preserve and protect the established [[Church of England]] from papal domination, and would grant rights to individuals who were in league with a foreign power which did not recognise their legitimacy. However, George IV reluctantly granted his assent upon the advice of his ministers.<ref name=Giv /> Thus, as the concept of ministerial responsibility has evolved, the power to withhold royal assent has fallen into disuse, both in the United Kingdom and in the other Commonwealth realms.

In 1914, [[George V]] took legal advice on withholding royal assent from the [[Home Rule Act 1914|Government of Ireland Bill]]; then highly contentious legislation that the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] government intended to push through Parliament by means of the [[Parliament Act 1911]]. He decided to not to withhold assent without "convincing evidence that it would avert a national disaster, or at least have a tranquillising effect on the distracting conditions of the time".<ref>{{cite book |title=Constitutional and Administrative Law |pages=243 |edition=13th |last1=Bradley |first1=A. W. |last2=Ewing |first2=K. D. |name-list-style=amp |year=2003 |publisher=Longmans |location=London |isbn=0-582-43807-1 }}</ref>

In the United Kingdom, a bill is presented for royal assent after it has passed all the required stages in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, the House of Commons may, under certain circumstances, direct that a bill be presented for assent despite lack of passage by the House of Lords.<ref>"Once a bill has completed all the parliamentary stages in both Houses, it is ready to receive royal assent", ''Bill becomes an Act of Parliament'' [http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/passage-bill/lords/lrds-royal-assent/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013202804/http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/passage-bill/lords/lrds-royal-assent/ |date=13 October 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/money-bills/|title=Money bills – Glossary page|website=UK Parliament|access-date=21 October 2013|archive-date=21 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021205022/http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/money-bills/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Clerk of the Parliaments]], anthe chief official of the House of Lords, traditionally statespronounces a formula in [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]] [[Law French]], indicating the sovereign's decision. The granting of royal assent to a [[supply bill]] is indicated with the words "Le Roy remercie ses bons sujets, accepte leur benevolence, et ainsi le veult",<ref name="bennion1981" /> translated as "The King thanks his good subjects, accepts their bounty, and so wills it." For other public or [[private bill]]s, the formula is simply "[[Le Roy le veult]]" ("the King wills it"). For [[Local and personal Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom|personal bill]]s, the phrase is "Soit fait comme il est désiré" ("let it be done as it is desired"). The appropriate formula for withholding assent is the euphemistic "Le Roy s'avisera" ("the King will consider it").<ref>{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVwEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA271 |title=The Assembled Commons; or, Parliamentary Biographer, with an abstract of the law of election and the usages of Parliament|author=A member of the Middle Temple|year=1838|publisher=Scott, Webster and Geary|location=London|page=271}}</ref>

Independently of the method used to signify royal assent, it is the responsibility of the [[Clerk of the Parliaments]], once the assent has been duly notified to both houses, not only to endorse the act in the name of the monarch with the formal Norman French formula, but to certify that assent has been granted.<ref>{{citation| url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/apgb/Geo3/33/13| title=Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793| publisher=[[UK Statute Law Database]]| access-date=4 December 2014| archive-date=10 May 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510203300/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/apgb/Geo3/33/13| url-status=live}}</ref> The Clerk signs one authentic copy of the bill and inserts the date (in English) on which the assent was notified to the two houses after the title of the act.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1967/mar/02/royal-assent-bill-hl#column_1191 Hansard] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016033458/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1967/mar/02/royal-assent-bill-hl#column_1191 |date=16 October 2023 }}, House of Lords, 2 March 1967, column 1191</ref>