Royal assent

"Royal veto" redirects here. For the proposed veto of Catholic bishops in the 19th century United Kingdom, see Royal veto of the appointment of bishops.

George VI, King of Canada, grants Royal Assent to laws in the Canadian Senate, 19 May 1939. His consort, Queen Elizabeth, is to the right.

Royal Assent is the name for the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law or letting it be promulgated as law. In the vast majority of contemporary monarchies, this act is considered to be little more than a formality; even in those nations which still permit their ruler to withhold the Royal Assent (such as the United Kingdom, Norway, and Liechtenstein), the monarch almost never does so, save in a dire political emergency or upon the advice of his or her government. While the power to withhold Royal Assent was once exercised often in European monarchies, it is exceedingly rare in the modern, democratic political atmosphere that has developed there since the 18th century.

Royal Assent is sometimes associated with elaborate ceremonies. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the sovereign may appear personally in the House of Lords or may appoint Lords Commissioners, who announce that Royal Assent has been granted at a ceremony held at the Palace of Westminster. However, Royal Assent is usually granted less ceremonially by letters patent. In other nations, including Australia and Canada, the governor-general merely signs the bill. In each case, the parliament must be apprised of the granting of assent. Two methods are available: the sovereign's representatives may grant assent in the presence of both houses of parliament; alternatively, each house may be notified separately, usually by the speaker of that house.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, Royal Assent is the final step required for a parliamentary bill to become law. Once a bill is presented to the sovereign or the sovereign's representative, he or she has three formal options: Firstly, the sovereign may grant Royal Assent, thereby making the bill an Act of Parliament. Secondly, the sovereign may withhold Royal Assent, thereby vetoing the bill. Finally, the sovereign may reserve Royal Assent; that is to say, defer a decision on the bill until a later time.

Under modern constitutional conventions, the sovereign acts on the advice of his or her ministers. Since these ministers most often maintain the support of parliament and are the ones who obtain the passage of bills, it is highly improbable that they would advise the sovereign to withhold assent. An exception is sometimes stated to be if bills are not passed in good faith; though, it has been difficult to make an interpretation on what this might constitute. Hence, in modern practice, Royal Assent is always granted; a refusal to do so would only be appropriate in an emergency situation requiring the use of the monarch's reserve powers.

Historical development

Originally, legislative power was exercised by the sovereign acting on the advice of the Curia Regis, or Royal Council, in which important magnates and clerics participated and which evolved into parliament. The so-called Model Parliament included bishops, abbots, earls, barons, and two knights from each shire and two burgesses from each borough amongst its members. In 1265, the Earl of Leicester irregularly called a full parliament without royal authorisation. The body eventually came to be divided into two branches: bishops, abbots, earls, and barons formed the House of Lords, while the shire and borough representatives formed the House of Commons. The King would seek the advice and consent of both houses before making any law. During Henry VI's reign, it became regular practice for the two houses to originate legislation in the form of bills, which would not become law unless the sovereign's assent was obtained, as the sovereign was, and still remains, the enactor of laws. Hence, all acts include the clause "Be it enacted by the Queen's (King's) most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows...". The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 provide a second potential preamble if the House of Lords is excluded from the process.

The power of parliament to pass bills was often thwarted by monarchs. Charles I dissolved parliament in 1629, after it passed motions critical of and bills seeking to restrict his arbitrary exercise of power. During the Eleven Years of Tyranny that followed, Charles performed legally dubious actions, such as raising taxes without parliament's approval. After the English Civil War, it was accepted that parliament should be summoned to meet regularly, but it was still commonplace for monarchs to refuse Royal Assent to bills. In 1678, Charles II withheld his assent from a bill "for preserving the Peace of the Kingdom by raising the Militia, and continuing them in Duty for Two and Forty Days," suggesting that he, not parliament, should control the militia. The last Stuart monarch, Anne, similarly withheld on 11 March 1708, on the advice of her ministers, her assent from a bill for the settling of Militia in Scotland. No monarch has since withheld Royal Assent on a bill passed by the British parliament.

During the rule of the succeeding Hanoverian dynasty, power was gradually exercised more by parliament and the government. The first Hanoverian monarch, George I, relied on his ministers to a greater extent than previous monarchs. Later Hanoverian monarchs attempted to restore royal control over legislation: George III and George IV both openly opposed Catholic Emancipation and asserted that to grant assent to a Catholic emancipation bill would violate the 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 recognize their legitimacy. However, George IV reluctantly granted his assent upon the advice of his ministers. 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 did take legal advice on withholding Royal Assent from the Government of Ireland Bill, a highly contentious piece of legislation that the Liberal government intended to push through parliament by means of the Parliament Act 1911. The King decided that he should not withhold assent without "convincing evidence that it would avert a national disaster, or at least have a tranquillizing effect on the distracting conditions of the time."

Ceremony

In the United Kingdom, a bill is presented for Royal Assent after it has been passed by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Alternatively, 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. Officially, assent is granted by the sovereign or by Lords Commissioners authorised to act by letters patent. It may be granted in parliament or outside parliament; in the latter case, each house must be separately notified before the bill takes effect.

The Clerk of the Parliaments, an official of the House of Lords, traditionally states a formula in Anglo-Norman Law French, indicating the sovereign's decision. The granting of Royal Assent to a supply bill is indicated with the words "La Reyne remercie ses bons sujets, accepte leur benevolence, et ainsi le veult", translated as "The Queen thanks her good subjects, accepts their bounty, and wills it so." For other public or private bills, the formula is simply "La Reyne le veult" ("the Queen wills it"). For personal bills, the phrase was "Soit fait comme il est désiré" ("let it be as it is desired"). The appropriate formula for withholding assent is the euphemistic "La Reyne s'avisera" ("the Queen will consider it"). When the sovereign is male, Le Roy is substituted for La Reyne.

Before the reign of Henry VIII, the sovereign always granted his or her assent in person. The sovereign, wearing the Imperial State Crown, would be seated on the throne in the Lords chamber, surrounded by heralds and members of the royal court—a scene that nowadays is repeated only at the annual State Opening of Parliament. The Commons, led by their speaker, would listen from the Bar of the Lords, just outside the chamber. The Clerk of the Parliaments presented the bills awaiting assent to the monarch, save that supply bills were traditionally brought up by the speaker. The Clerk of the Crown, standing on the sovereign's right, then read aloud the titles of the bills (in earlier times, the entire text of the bills). The Clerk of the Parliaments, standing on the sovereign's left, responded by stating the appropriate Norman French formula.

Henry VIII introduced a new method of granting Royal Assent

A new device for granting assent was created during the reign of King Henry VIII. In 1542, Henry sought to execute his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, whom he accused of committing adultery; the execution was to be authorised not after a trial but by a bill of attainder, to which he would have to personally assent after listening to the entire text. Henry decided that "the repetition of so grievous a Story and the recital of so infamous a crime" in his presence "might reopen a Wound already closing in the Royal Bosom". Therefore, parliament inserted a clause into the Act of Attainder, providing that assent granted by Commissioners "is and ever was and ever shall be, as good" as assent granted by the sovereign personally. The procedure was used only five times during the 16th century, but more often during the 17th and 18th centuries, especially when George III's health began to deteriorate. Queen Victoria became the last monarch to personally grant assent in 1854.

When granting assent by commission, the sovereign authorises three or more (normally five) lords who are Privy Counsellors to grant assent in his or her name. The Lords Commissioners, as the monarch's representatives are known, wear scarlet parliamentary robes and sit on a bench between the throne and the Woolsack. The Lords Reading Clerk reads the commission aloud; the senior commissioner then states, "My Lords, in obedience to Her Majesty's Commands, and by virtue of the Commission which has been now read, We do declare and notify to you, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled, that Her Majesty has given Her Royal Assent to the several Acts in the Commission mentioned."

During the 1960s, the ceremony of assenting by commission was discontinued and is now only employed once a year, at the end of the annual parliamentary session. In 1960, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod arrived to summon the House of Commons during a heated debate and several members protested against the disruption by refusing to attend the ceremony. The debacle was repeated in 1965; this time, when the Speaker left the chair to go to the House of Lords, some members continued to make speeches. As a result, the Royal Assent Act 1967 was passed, creating an additional form for the granting of Royal Assent. Thus, the granting of assent by the monarch in person, or by commission, is still possible, but this third form is used on a day-to-day basis.

Under the Royal Assent Act 1967, Royal Assent can be granted by the sovereign in writing, by means of letters patent, that are presented to the presiding officer of each house of parliament. Then, the presiding officer makes a formal, but simple statement to the house, acquainting each house that Royal Assent has been granted to the acts mentioned. Thus, unlike the granting of Royal Assent by the monarch in person or by Royal Commissioners, the method created by the Royal Assent Act 1967 does not require both houses to meet jointly for the purpose of receiving the notice of Royal Assent. The standard text of the letters patent is set out in The Crown Office (Forms and Proclamations Rules) Order 1992, with minor amendments in 2000. Formally, this remains the standard method, a fact that is recited by the wording of the letters patent for the appointment of the Royal Commissioners and by the wording of the letters patent for the granting of Royal Assent in writing under the 1967 Act ("... And forasmuch as We cannot at this time be present in the Higher House of Our said Parliament being the accustomed place for giving Our Royal Assent...").

When the act is assented by the sovereign in person, or by empowered Royal Commissioners, Royal Assent is considered given at the moment when the assent is declared in the presence of both houses jointly assembled. When the procedure created by the Royal Assent Act 1967 is followed, assent is considered granted when the presiding officers of both houses, having received the letters patent from the king or queen signifying the assent, have notified their respective house of the grant of Royal Assent. Thus, if each presiding officer makes the announcement at a different time (for instance because one house is not sitting on a certain date), assent is regarded as effective when the second announcement is made. This is important because, under British Law, unless there is any provision to the contrary, an act takes effect on the date in which it receives Royal Assent and that date is not regarded as being the date when the letters patent are signed, or when they are delivered to the presiding officers of each house, but the date in which both houses have been formally acquainted of the conferral of assent to the act.

Independently of the method used to signify Royal Assent, it is the responsibility of the Clerk of the Parliaments, once it 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. The clerk signs one authentic copy of the bill and inserts the date in which when Royal Assent was notified to the two houses between the text of the enacting clause and the first section of the act. When an act is published, the signature of the clerk is omitted, as is the Norman French formula, should the endorsement have been made in writing. However the date when Royal Assent is notified is printed in brackets.

Devolved parliaments and assemblies

Scotland

Royal Assent is the final stage in the legislative process for acts of the Scottish parliament. The process is governed by sections 28, 32, and 33 of the Scotland Act 1998. After a bill has been passed, the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament submits it to the monarch for Royal Assent after a four week period, during which the Advocate General for Scotland, the Lord Advocate, or the Attorney General may refer the bill to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (prior to 1 October 2009, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council) for review of its legality. Royal Assent is signified by letters patent under the Great Seal of Scotland in the following form which is set out in The Scottish Parliament (Letters Patent and Proclamations) Order 1999 (SI 1999/737) and of which notice is published in the London, Edinburgh, and Belfast Gazettes.:

ELIZABETH THE SECOND by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Our other Realms and Territories Queen Head of the Commonwealth Defender of the Faith To Our trusty and well beloved the members of the Scottish Parliament GREETING:

FORASMUCH as various Bills have been passed by the Scottish Parliament and have been submitted to Us for Our Royal Assent by the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament in accordance with the Scotland Act 1998 the short Titles of which Bills are set forth in the Schedule hereto but those Bills by virtue of the Scotland Act 1998 do not become Acts of the Scottish Parliament nor have effect in the Law without Our Royal Assent signified by Letters Patent under Our Scottish Seal (that is Our Seal appointed by the Treaty of Union to be kept and used in Scotland in place of the Great Seal of Scotland) signed with Our own hand and recorded in the Register of the Great Seal We have therefore caused these Our Letters Patent to be made and have signed them and by them do give Our Royal Assent to those Bills COMMANDING ALSO the Keeper of Our Scottish Seal to seal these Our Letters with that Seal.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF we have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent.
WITNESS Ourself at ... the ... day of ... in the ... year of Our Reign.

By The Queen Herself Signed with Her Own Hand.

Wales

Measures, which were the means by which the National Assembly for Wales passed legislation between 2006 and 2011, were assented to by the Queen by means of an Order in Council. Section 102 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 required the Clerk to the Assembly to present measures passed by the assembly after a four week period during which the Counsel General for Wales or the Attorney General could refer the proposed measure to the Supreme Court for a decision as to whether the measure was within the assembly's legislative competence.

Following the referendum held in March 2011, in which the majority vote for the assembly's law-making powers to be extended, measures will be replaced by Acts of the Assembly. Similarly to Acts of the Scottish parliament, after a four-week waiting period Royal Assent to acts of the assembly will be given by means of letters patent using the following wording:

ELIZABETH THE SECOND by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Our other Realms and Territories Queen Head of the Commonwealth Defender of the Faith To Our Trusty and well beloved the members of the National Assembly for Wales GREETING:

FORASMUCH as one or more Bills have been passed by the National Assembly for Wales and have been submitted to Us for Our Royal Assent by the Clerk of the National Assembly for Wales in accordance with the Government of Wales Act 2006 the short Titles of which Bills are set forth in the Schedule hereto but those Bills by virtue of the Government of Wales Act 2006 do not become Acts of the National Assembly for Wales nor have effect in the Law without Our Royal Assent signified by Letters Patent under Our Welsh Seal signed with Our own hand We have therefore caused these Our Letters Patent to be made and have signed them and by them do give Our Royal Assent to those Bills which shall be taken and accepted as good and perfect Acts of the Assembly and be put in due execution accordingly COMMANDING ALSO the Keeper of Our Welsh Seal to seal these Our Letters with that Seal.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF we have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent.
WITNESS Ourself at ... the ... day of ... in the ... year of Our Reign.

By The Queen Herself Signed with Her Own Hand.

The letters patent may also be made in Welsh.

Northern Ireland

Under section 14 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, a bill which has been approved by the Northern Ireland Assembly is presented to the Queen by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for Royal Assent after a four week waiting period during which the Attorney General for Northern Ireland may refer the bill to the Supreme Court. Assent is given by means of letters patent in the following form set out in the Northern Ireland (Royal Assent to Bills) Order 1999.

"ELIZABETH THE SECOND by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Our other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, To the Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly GREETING:

WHEREAS you the Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly have passed a Bill the short title of which is set out in the Schedule hereto but the said Bill does not become an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly without Our Royal Assent; AND WHEREAS pursuant to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 the said Bill has been submitted to Us by [insert name of Secretary of State] one of Our Principal Secretaries of State for Our Royal Assent;
We have therefore caused these Our Letters Patent to be made and have signed them and by them We give Our Royal Assent to the said Bill COMMANDING [insert name of Clerk of the Crown for Northern Ireland] the Clerk of the Crown for Northern Ireland to seal these Our Letters with the Great Seal of Northern Ireland AND ALSO COMMANDING that these Our Letters be notified to the Presiding Officer of the Northern Ireland Assembly;
AND FINALLY WE declare that, in accordance with the Northern Ireland Act 1998, at the beginning of the day on which Our Royal Assent has been notified as aforesaid the said Bill shall become an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
In Witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent
WITNESS Ourself at the day of in the year of Our Reign

By the Queen Herself Signed with Her Own Hand."

Between 1922 and 1972, bills passed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland were passed to the Governor of Northern Ireland for Royal Assent under the Government of Ireland Act of 1920, replacing the office of Lord Lieutenant.

Church of England Measures

Under the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 a measure of the General Synod of the Church of England becomes law once it has received Royal Assent in the same way as an Act of Parliament.

Other Commonwealth realms

In Commonwealth realms outside the UK, Royal Assent is granted or withheld by the governor-general, the representative of the sovereign. In realms with federal systems, assent is granted or withheld by the representatives of the sovereign in each state, province, or territory; in Australia, this is the governor (of a state) or administrator (of the Northern Territory); in Canada, this is the lieutenant govenror (of a province). A governor of a state or lieutenant governor of a province may defer assent to the governor-general, who may in turn defer it to the sovereign. In some cases, when a royal tour of a Commonwealth realm is pending, assent may be reserved so that the sovereign may grant it in person. If the governor general is unable to give assent, it can be done by either the Deputy of the Governor General of Canada—the Chief Justice of Canada—or another justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

At both state and federal realms in Australia, assent is used as the means of enforcing a referendum that is required. This is done by providing that it will not be lawful to even submit the law for viceregal assent unless and until it has been approved by the required percentage of the voting populace at a referendum.

In New Zealand, section 16 of the Constitution Act 1986 states that "a Bill passed by the House of Representatives shall become law when the Sovereign or the Governor-General assents to it and signs it in token of such assent." This act also states in section 3 that Royal Assent can be given by the sovereign in person or by the governor-general on behalf of the sovereign.

Historical changes

While the Royal Assent has not been withheld in the United Kingdom since 1708, it has often been withheld in British colonies and former colonies by governors acting on royal instructions. In the United States Declaration of Independence, colonists complained that George III "has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good [and] has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them." Even after colonies such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, and Newfoundland were granted responsible government, the British government continued to advise governors-general on the granting of assent. Assent was sometimes reserved in order to allow the British government to examine a bill before advising the governor-general.

Since the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westminster 1931, governors-general have acted solely on the advice of the local ministers, rather than on that of the British government. As in the United Kingdom, the ministers generally maintain the support of the legislature and are the ones who secure the passage of bills; therefore, they are unlikely to advise the sovereign's representative to withhold assent. The power to withhold the Royal Assent was notably exercised by Alberta's lieutenant governor, John C. Bowen, in 1937, in respect of three bills passed under William Aberhart's Social Credit government. Two bills sought to put banks under the authority of the province, thereby interfering with the federal government's powers. The third, the Accurate News and Information Bill, purported to force newspapers to print government rebuttals to stories to which the provincial cabinet objected. The unconstitutionality of all three bills was later confirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada and by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

In Australia, a technical issue arose with the Royal Assent in both 1976 and 2001. In 1976, a bill originating in the House of Representatives was mistakenly submitted to the Governor-General and assented to. However, it was later discovered that it had not been passed by each house. The error arose because two bills of the same title had originated from the House. The Governor-General revoked the first assent, before assenting to the bill which had actually passed. The same procedure was followed to correct a similar error which arose in 2001.

Ceremonies through the Commonwealth

In Commonwealth realms, assent may be granted by the sovereign in person, by the governor-general in person, or by a deputy acting for the governor-general. In all of the realms, however, assent is more often granted or signified outside the legislature, with each house being notified separately.

In Australia, the formal ceremony of granting Assent in parliament has not been regularly used since the early 20th century. Now, the bill is sent to the governor-general's residence by the house in which it originated. The governor-general then signs the bill, sending messages to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who notify their respective houses of the governor-general's action. A similar practice is followed in New Zealand, where the governor-general has not personally granted the Royal Assent in parliament since 1875.

In Canada, the traditional ceremony for granting assent in parliament was regularly used until the 21st century, long after it had been discontinued in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. One result, conceived as part of a string of royal duties intended to demonstrate Canada's status as an independent kingdom, was that King George VI personally assented to nine bills of the Canadian parliament during the 1939 royal tour of Canada—85 years after his great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, had last granted Royal Assent personally in the United Kingdom. Under the Royal Assent Act 2002, however, the alternative practice of granting assent in writing, with each house being notified separately, was brought into force. As the act also provides, Royal Assent is to be signified—by the governor general, or, more often, by a deputy, usually a Justice of the Supreme Court—in the Senate (as the sovereign is traditionally barred from the House of Commons.) at least twice each calendar year: for the first appropriation measure and for at least one other act, usually the first non-appropriation measure passed. However, the act provides that a grant of Royal Assent is not rendered invalid by a failure to employ the traditional ceremony where required.

British Crown dependencies

Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey

The lieutenant governors of the bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey do not grant Royal Assent. The States of Jersey Law 2005 abolished any power of the lieutenant governor to veto a resolution of the states.

Instead, the monarch directly grants Royal Assent by Order in Council. Assent is granted or refused on the advice of the Lord Chancellor. A recent example when assent was refused (or, more correctly, when the Lord Chancellor declined to present the law for assent) was in 2007, concerning reforms to the constitution of the Chief Pleas of Sark. (A revised version of the proposed reforms was subsequently given assent.) In 2011, campaigners against a law that sought to reduce the number of senators in the states of Jersey petitioned the Privy Council to advise the Queen to refuse Royal Assent. An Order in Council of 13 July 2011 established new rules for the consideration of petitions against granting Royal Assent.

Laws require Royal Assent; other legislation such as ordinances (in Guernsey) and regulations and orders (in Jersey) do not require Royal Assent.

Isle of Man

Special procedures apply to legislation passed by Tynwald, the legislature of the Isle of Man. Before the lordship of the Island was purchased by the British Crown in 1765 (the Revestment), the assent of the Lord of Mann to a bill was signified by letter to the governor. After 1765, Royal Assent was at first signified by letter from the Secretary of State to the governor; but, during the British Regency, the practice began of granting Royal Assent by Order in Council, which continues to this day, though limited to exceptional cases since 1981.

In 1981, an Order in Council delegated to the lieutenant governor the power to grant Royal Assent to bills passed by Tynwald. The lieutenant governor must refer any bill to the then Lord Chancellor's Department (now Ministry of Justice) for advice, on which he is required to act, and certain types of bill are reserved to the monarch, in which case the former procedure is followed.

Royal Assent is not sufficient to give legal effect to an Act of Tynwald. By ancient custom, an act did not come into force until it had been promulgated at an open-air sitting of Tynwald, usually held on Tynwald Hill at St John's on St John's Day (24 June), but, since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1753, on 5 July (or on the following Monday if 5 July is a Saturday or Sunday). Promulgation originally consisted of the reading of the Act in English and Manx; but, after 1865 the reading of the title of the act and a summary of each section were sufficient. This was reduced in 1895 to the titles and a memorandum of the object and purport of the act, and, since 1988, only the short title and a summary of the long title have been read.

An emergency procedure enabling an act to come into force on Royal Assent being announced at an ordinary sitting of Tynwald, subject to its being promulgated within 12 months, was introduced in 1916; since 1988, this has been the normal procedure and an act ceases to have effect unless promulgated within 18 months after Royal Assent is announced in Tynwald.

Since 1993, the Sodor and Man Diocesan Synod has had power to enact measures making provision "with respect to any matter concerning the Church of England in the Island". If approved by Tynwald, a measure "shall have the force and effect of an Act of Tynwald upon the Royal Assent thereto being announced to Tynwald". Between 1979 and 1993, the Synod had similar powers, but limited to the extension to the Isle of Man of measures of the General Synod. Before 1994, Royal Assent was granted by Order in Council, as for a bill, but the power to grant Royal Assent to measures has now been delegated to the lieutenant governor. A Measure does not require promulgation.

British overseas territories

The governors (or lieutenant governors) of British overseas territories grant or refuse the Royal Assent for territorial legislation. They may also reserve a bill to allow the sovereign to make a personal decision. When Hong Kong was under British rule, bills passed by the Legislative Council were required constitutionally to have Royal Assent signified by the governor.

Other countries

General

In some monarchies, promulgation is required as well as Royal Assent: such as Belgium, Denmark, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Thailand. In other monarchies, such as Sweden, the government officially promulgates laws. In both cases, however, the process of Royal Assent is usually ceremonial, whether by constitutional convention or by an explicit provision of the constitution.

Belgium

In Belgium the sanction royale has the same legal effect as Royal Assent, with the government held responsible if the king or queen refuses the royal sanction. The monarch promulgates the law, meaning that he formally publishes the law and orders that it be executed. In 1990, when King Baudouin advised the government he could not, in conscience, sign a bill decriminalizing abortion, the Council of Ministers declared him incapable of exercising his powers at his own request. In accordance with the Belgian constitution, upon the declaration of the sovereign's incapacity, the Council of Ministers assumed the powers of the head of state until parliament could rule on the King's incapacity and appoint a regent. The bill was then assented to by all members of the Council of Ministers on the King's behalf. Both houses of parliament declared the King capable of exercising his powers again the next day.

Jordan

The constitution of Jordan grants its monarch the right to withhold assent to laws passed by its parliament. Article 93 of that document gives the King of Jordan six months to sign or veto any legislation sent to him from the National Assembly; if he vetoes it within that timeframe, the assembly may override his veto by a two-thirds vote of both houses; otherwise, the law does not go into effect (but it may be reconsidered in the next session of the Assembly). If the king fails to act within six months of the bill being presented to him, it becomes law without his signature.

Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein allows its monarch to withhold Royal Assent of his or her own will. When Prince Hans Adam II, in an unprecedented move for the constitutional monarchy, refused to give Royal Assent to a bill legalising abortion, he pushed for a bill to give him sweeping powers in the government beyond only ceremonial matters, including the power to appoint judges. Though in a moment of pique, he had once quipped that he would sell the country to Bill Gates and rename it Microsoft, he did seriously threaten to move to Austria with the Princely Family. The bill did pass, and the Prince now has many additional powers, including the power to withhold Royal Assent on his own accord.

Luxembourg

While the constitution of Luxembourg formerly required the grand duke or duchess' signature on a new law for it to take effect, this right was removed in 2008, after the Grand Duke, Henri, informed his prime minister that he could not in good conscience sign a bill to permit euthanasia in the country.

The Netherlands

Royal Assent in the Netherlands is required, under article 87 of the Dutch constitution, for a bill to become law. After a law has been approved by the Council of Ministers and has received a positive advice from the advisory Council of State, the government then sends it to the lower house of parliament in the name of the monarch with the following text:

Aan de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal

Wij bieden U hiernevens ter overweging aan een voorstel van wet houdende [topic of the law] in verband met [reason and purpose of the law]
De memorie van toelichting (en bijlagen) die het wetsvoorstel vergezelt, bevat de gronden waarop het rust.
En hiermede bevelen Wij U in Godes heilige bescherming.

[location and date] [signed Willem-Alexander].

To the Second Chamber of the States-General

Herewith We offer to You for consideration a proposal of law containing [topic of the law] in relation to [reason and purpose of the law]
The explanatory memorandum (and addenda) that accompanies the proposal of law, contains the grounds on which it is based.
And herewith We command You in God's holy protection.

[location and date] [signed Willem-Alexander].

After the House of Representatives has debated the law, it either approves it and sends it to the Senate with the text "The Second Chamber of the States-General sends the following approved proposal of law to the First Chamber", or it rejects it and returns it to the government with the text "The Second Chamber of the States-General has rejected the accompanying proposal of law." If the upper house then approves the law, it sends it back to the government with the text "To the King, The States-General have accepted the proposal of law as it is offered here."

The government, consisting of the monarch and the ministers, will then usually approve the proposal and the sovereign and one of the ministers signs the proposal with the addition of an enacting clause, thereafter notifying the States-General that "The King assents to the proposal." It has happened in exceptional circumstances that the government does not approve a law that has been passed in parliament. In such a case, neither the monarch nor a minister will sign the bill, notifying the States-General that "The King will keep the proposal under advisement." A law that has received Royal Assent will be published in the State Magazine, with the original being kept in the archives of the King's Offices.

Norway

Articles 77–79 of the Norwegian constitution specifically grant the King of Norway the right to withhold Royal Assent from any bill passed by the Storting, or parliament. Should the king ever choose to exercise this privilege, Article 79 provides a means by which his veto may be overridden: "If a Bill has been passed unaltered by two sessions of the Storting, constituted after two separate successive elections and separated from each other by at least two intervening sessions of the Storting, without a divergent Bill having been passed by any Storting in the period between the first and last adoption, and it is then submitted to the King with a petition that His Majesty shall not refuse his assent to a Bill which, after the most mature deliberation, the Storting considers to be beneficial, it shall become law even if the Royal Assent is not accorded before the Storting goes into recess."

Spain

Title IV of the 1978 Spanish constitution invests the Consentimiento Real (Royal Assent) and promulgation (publication) of laws with the King of Spain, while Title III, The Cortes Generals, Chapter 2, Drafting of Bills, outlines the method by which bills are passed. According to Article 91, within fifteen days of passage of a bill by the Cortes Generales, the king shall give his assent and publish the new law. Article 92 invests the king with the right to call for a referendum, on the advice of the president of the government (commonly referred to in English as the prime minister) and the authorization of the cortes.

No provision within the constitution grants the king an ability to veto legislation directly; however, no provision prohibits the king from withholding Royal Assent, which effectively constitutes a veto. When the Spanish media asked King Juan Carlos if he would endorse the bill legalizing same-sex marriages, he answered "Soy el Rey de España y no el de Bélgica" ("I am the King of Spain and not that of Belgium")—a reference to King Baudouin I of Belgium, who had refused to sign the Belgian law legalising abortion. The King gave Royal Assent to Law 13/2005 on 1 July 2005; the law was gazetted in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 2 July and came into effect on 3 July 2005. Likewise, in 2010, King Juan Carlos gave Royal Assent to a law permitting abortion on demand.

If the King of Spain ever refused in conscience to grant Royal Assent, a procedure similar to the Belgian handling of King Baudouin's objection would not be possible under the current constitution. If the king were ever declared incapable of discharging royal authority, his powers would not be transferred to the Cabinet, pending the parliamentary appointment of a regency. Instead, the constitution mandates the next person of age in the line of succession would immediately become regent. Therefore, had King Juan Carlos followed the Belgian example in 2005 or 2010, a declaration of incapacity would only transfer power to Felipe, Prince of Asturias, his heir apparent.

Tonga

Articles 41 and 68 of the constitution empower the king to withhold Royal Assent from bills adopted by the Legislative Assembly. In 2010, the kingdom moved towards greater democracy, with King George Tupou V saying that he would be guided by his prime minister in the exercising of his powers. Nonetheless, this does not preclude an independent royal decision to exercise a right of veto. In November 2011, the assembly adopted an Arms and Ammunitions (Amendment) Bill, which reduced the possible criminal sentences for the illicit possession of firearms. The bill was adopted by ten votes to eight. Two members of the assembly had recently been charged with the illicit possession of firearms. The Prime Minister, Lord Tuʻivakanō, voted in favour of the amendment. Members of the opposition denounced the bill, and asked the King to veto it, which he did in December.

External links

Text of the Royal Assent Act 1967 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. .

Further reading

• "Act of Parliament" and "Parliament". In Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed. London (1911): Cambridge University Press.
• Bond, M. F. (1956). "La Reyne le Veult: The making and keeping of Acts at Westminster". "History Today", (Vol. 6, pp. 756–773). Retrieved on 11 April 2007.
• Companion to the Standing Orders and guide to the Proceedings of the House of Lords (22nd ed). Retrieved on 11 April 2007.
• Farnborough, T. E. May, 1st Baron. (1896). The Constitutional History of England since the Accession of George the Third 1760–1860 11th ed. (Vol. 1). London: Longmans, Green and Co. Retrieved on 11 April 2007.
• "The Honourable John C. Bowen, 1937–50. Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Retrieved on 11 April 2007.
• "Royal Assent Act. (2002, c. 15)" Department of Justice Canada, 2002. Retrieved on 14 August 2012.
• "Queen and Prince Charles using power of veto over new laws, Whitehall documents reveal"