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Though some Republic an heads of state possess similar powers they are not coterminous, containing a number of fundamental differences. See Reserve Power s.

Though originally exercised at the will of the monarch, in modern Constitutional Monarchies most Royal Prerogative powers are exercised directly by the executive and some are nominally exercised by the monarch, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister and Cabinet . There may be situations in which the monarch may choose to exercise his or her Royal Prerogative independently from the elected politicians. Such situations are extremely rare, and only occur in emergencies. In most liberal-democratic constitutional monarchies, such actions would precipitate a Constitutional Crisis .

Not all constitutional monarchs have royal prerogative that can be exercised independently however. For example, the King of Sweden and the Emperor of Japan have specific government duties that cannot be exercised with any degree of individual discretion, no matter what the circumstance.


THE ROYAL PREROGATIVE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

In the Kingdom Of England (up to 1707 ), the Kingdom Of Great Britain (1707– 1800 ) and the United Kingdom (since 1801 ), the Royal Prerogative historically was one of the central features of the Realm 's governance. Today, most prerogative powers are directly exercised by ministers, such as the powers to "regulate the Civil Service, issue passports and grant honours, all without any need for approval from Parliament". Some prerogative powers are exercised nominally by the monarch, but on the advice of Prime Minister and Cabinet Of The United Kingdom , who instruct the monarch as to when to use them. Some key areas of British system of government are still carried out by means of the Royal Prerogative, but its usage has been diminishing as functions are progressively made statutory. In Commonwealth Realms , the Royal Prerogative is very similar in nature to the prerogative in the United Kingdom, but is exercised by the Monarch's representative, the Governor General .

Contrary to widespread belief, the Royal Prerogative is not unlimited. In the ''Case of Proclamations'' ( 1611 ) during the reign of King James I/VI , English common law courts judges emphatically asserted that they possessed the right to determine the limits of the Royal Prerogative. Since the Glorious Revolution ( 1688 ), which brought co-monarchs Queen Mary II and King William III to power, this judicial interpretation has not been challenged by The Crown .

No new prerogative powers can be created. ''BBC v Johns (1965).'' However, existing prerogatives such as the power of "Declaring War and Making Peace" can be modified to cover new situations, as seen in ''ex p Northumbria Police Authority (1989),'' which saw this prerogative evolved to include the ability to "keep the peace" and hence allow the Home Secretary to equip his forces with plastic baton rounds and CS Gas .

Furthermore, where a discretionary prerogative power is justiciable, its exercise can be challenged by Judicial Review on the same grounds as that of discretionary powers vested in the executive by statute. This is elucidated by Lord Diplock in ''Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister of State for Civil Service (1985)''

Among the powers theoretically possessed by the monarch in the United Kingdom under the Royal Prerogative are:
  • The appointment and dismissal of ministers;

  • The dissolution of parliament and the calling of elections;

  • Clemency and Pardon ;

  • The award of Dignities And Honours ;

  • The declaration of war;

  • The declaration of an emergency;

  • The grant of Charters Of Incorporation ;

  • The collection of tolls;

  • The minting of coinage;

  • The issue and revocation of Passports ;

  • The expulsion of a foreign national from the United Kingdom;

  • The creation of new ''common law'' courts;

  • The creation of new Universities ;

  • The appointment of Bishop s and archbishops in the Church Of England ;

  • The printing of the authorised Church of England version of the Bible ;

  • The publication of all statutes, legislative instruments and Orders-in-Council ;

  • The exercise of jurisdiction over numerous Royal foundations of all kinds;

  • The appointment of Royal Commissions and Officers for any purposes.


The prerogative also traditionally included duties, not just rights. The foremost of these were the defence of the realm and the keeping of the Queen's Peace .

In regard to the monarch's prerogative of the awarding of dignities and honours, in practice most British Orders Of Chivalry are conferred on the advice of the Prime Minister. However, the monarch retains the exclusive right of conferring the Order Of The Garter , the Order Of The Thistle , the Order Of Merit , the Royal Victorian Order and the Royal Victorian Chain , along with the grant of Arms .

The monarch is also immune from prosecution in the courts, though the scope of the immunity that once attached to the Crown has reduced. (The ostensible logic for this is that the Queen is present in all courts and acts as the prosecuting authority in most criminal cases, either directly or indirectly: she cannot therefore sue or prosecute herself or judge her own case. However this logic is flawed, because there appears no problem in judging her own cases as prosecutor, or as claimant in civil litigation). In particular, several Acts Of Parliament have allowed agents of the Crown (i.e. government employees) to be sued in the courts. The Queen's daughter, the Princess Royal actually has a criminal record (for not keeping her dog under control).

Although many powers are included in the royal prerogative, some powers are notable for their absence. In particular, the British monarch does not have the power to deprive an individual of their life, liberty or property as these rights are said to derive from the Fundamental Laws Of England . As a consequence, the monarch does not have the power to tax without the consent of Parliament and this has significantly limited the power of the monarchy. The unsuccessful efforts of Charles I Of England to raise money to finance the royal administration through royal prerogative sources not subject to parliamentary approval (such the collection of Ship Money ) was one of the major causes of the English Civil War .

Many uses of the prerogative in foreign affairs are called Acts Of State . Most powers exercised by the British government in international and foreign affairs come from the Royal Prerogative. These include:
  • The accreditation of diplomats;

  • The granting of Sovereign Immunity ;

  • The negotiation of treaties.


Among the odder royal prerogatives are:


Prior to British involvement in the 2003 Invasion Of Iraq , Prime Minister Tony Blair , in a major break with precedent, sought parliamentary approval for British participation in the war. However Parliament's decision was in constitutional terms ''advisory'' as the actual decision would be taken by the exercise of the Royal Prerogative. Blair indicated that should parliament not approve, he would not formally advise Queen Elizabeth II to exercise the Royal Prerogative. Given that Blair had an overwhelming Labour majority in the British House Of Commons and had the support of the opposition Conservative Party , there was little likelihood that parliament would vote down the motion recommending participation in the war. It remains to be seen whether a future government with a small majority or in a minority in the House of Commons will seek parliamentary approval prior to the exercise of the Royal Prerogative. Clare Short has proposed a Private Member's Bill which would remove the declaration of war from the royal prerogative. {Link without Title}

Former left wing Labour MP Tony Benn campaigned for the abolition of the Royal Prerogative in the United Kingdom in the 1990s , arguing that all governmental powers in effect exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister and cabinet should be subject to parliamentary scrutiny and require parliamentary approval. His attempts were unsuccessful, with later governments arguing that such is the breadth of topics covered by the Royal Prerogative that requiring parliamentary approval in each instance where the prerogative is currently used would overwhelm parliamentary time and slow the enactment of legislation.

It is remarkable that whereas historically Parliament has been the bastion of the subject against oppression under the Royal prerogative, in modern times the residual Royal Prerogative may conversely provide some protection against an oppressive government (which practically controls Parliament). Thus it has been suggested that Royal Assent might properly be delayed or withheld where legislation is found, after passing both Houses of Parliament, to be illegal under international or European Law.


RECENT USES OF ROYAL PREROGATIVE

The governments of the United Kingdom, and of Canada, have used Royal Prerogative to deny passports to citizens whom the Americans had held, and released, from the American prison in the US Naval base at Guantanamo Bay . Martin Mubanga , who has joint citizenship with the United Kingdom and Zambia is one of the British citizens denied a passport. Abdurahman Khadr was denied a passport by the Canadian government.

In the UK, Biometric Passports , which Andrew Burnham (MP) recently admitted were the first step towards British National Identity Card s, are being legislated under Royal Prerogative. It is expected that biometric passports will introduce a database similar to the National Identity Register , including unique NIR numbers for every British citizen.


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