Tag: Royal Assent
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Thomas Horsley: Managing the External Effects of Devolved Legislation: Virtual Representation, Self-Rule and the UK’s Territorial Constitution
The Scottish Government is presently seeking judicial review of the UK Government’s decision to block Royal Assent for the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (GRRB) using s.35 of the Scotland Act 1998 (SA). The Court of Session’s decision, which may yet end up before the UK Supreme Court on appeal, is eagerly awaited, not least given the electricity of…
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Michael Detmold: The Proper Denial of Royal Assent
Twenty-one eminent constitutional lawyers expressed this view in a letter to the Times (3 4 19): ‘Any attempt to advise refusal of Royal Assent to a Bill passed by Parliament would stand constitutional principle on its head. It would presume a governmental power to override Parliament, yet it is in Parliament, not the Executive, that…
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Alison Young: Taking (Back) Control?
In his insightful post, David Howarth set out a conflict between two visions of democracy: Westminster and Whitehall. The Westminster vision favours Parliament (particularly the House of Commons), drawing on Parliament’s democratic credentials, the sovereignty of Parliament and the ultimate constitutional convention that a Government only holds power to the extent that it enjoys the…
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Joseph Crampin: Precedent for Delaying Royal Assent: A Response to Professor Finnis
The ‘Cooper-Letwin Act’ (European Union Withdrawal (No 5) Act 2019) may yet come to be known as the constitutional crisis that wasn’t. But, the advocacy by some of the Government’s ability to advise the crown to refuse assent in order to legitimately prevent the Bill from becoming law has provoked significant debate. The object of…
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Editors’ note: Contributions regarding royal assent
The issue of whether the Queen can refuse royal assent to legislation, whether advised by her Ministers to do so or otherwise, has generated a lot of posts and comments on the site. However, as the circumstances which prompted this discussion have now been resolved (the European Union Withdrawal Act 2019 was granted royal assent…
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David Howarth: Westminster versus Whitehall: Two Incompatible Views of the Constitution
Lawyers like to make as much sense as possible of the material in front of them, transforming it, if they can, from a jumble of decisions and remarks into a coherent whole. For constitutional lawyers that habit of mind is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because it causes lawyers to…
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John Finnis: Royal Assent – A Reply to Mark Elliott
I agree with Mark Elliott in finding my April 1 argument about prorogation and assent astonishing and monstrous, once the argument’s important premises have been omitted, as he has omitted them. And it is left even more objectionable when he has attributed to it a premise, two assumptions, and a goal each far from my…
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Jeff King: Can Royal Assent to a Bill Be Withheld If So Advised by Ministers?
An article in the Sunday Times by Professor Richard Ekins and Sir Stephen Laws QC advised that the Monarch could withhold Royal Assent to a bill passed if advised to do so by ministers. Robert Craig has also argued for that position in a blog post, making clear why in his view that is the…
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Robert Craig: Why Royal Consent Is Required for the Proposed Article 50 Extension Bill
I wrote recently on this blog about the issue of Royal Assent. This post concerns the wholly separate issue of Royal Consent which is a requirement for those rare Bills that would affect the royal prerogative. The possibility of a no deal exit has led Yvette Cooper MP to propose a Bill, the European Union…
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Robert Craig: Could the Government Advise the Queen to Refuse Royal Assent to a Backbench Bill?
Introduction As is well known, the Government’s Withdrawal Agreement was voted down in Parliament last week by 230 votes in a ‘meaningful vote’ mandated under s 13(1) of European Withdrawal Act 2018 (‘EUWA’). This led to the Opposition tabling a formal vote of no confidence in the Government under the Fixed-term Parliament Act 2011 (‘FTPA’).…