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Executive (The Crown)
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Throughout the Commonwealth realms The Crown is an abstract metonymic concept which represents the legal authority for the existence of any government. A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 sovereign states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II as their respective Monarch In Rhetoric, metonymy (mɨˈtɒnɨmi is the use of a word for a concept or object associated with the concept/object originally denoted by the word It evolved naturally as a separation of the literal crown and property of the nation-state from the person and personal property of the monarch.
Similar concepts of "The Crown" also operate in other constitutional monarchies, in which (like the United Kingdom) the monarch is Head of State, but the actual governing of the nation is conducted according to the wishes of a democratically elected national legislature. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a Monarchic or Republican Nation-state The Holy Crown of Hungary is an example that similar concepts (although in symbolic rather than legal contexts) can survive even in a republic. The doctrine of the Holy Crown (in Hungarian: Szentkorona-tan) is a complex Tradition that underlies Hungary 's historical unwritten Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic A republic is a State or Country that is not led by a hereditary Monarch, but in which the people (or at least a part of its people have impact on its
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Description
The Crown itself is a corporation sole that represents the legal embodiment of the Executive Government. In English Law, a corporation sole is a legal entity consisting of a single ('sole' incorporated office occupied by a single ('sole' man or woman The real crowns (such as Britain's Crown Jewels and the Honours of Scotland) are the property of the Crown, not of the incumbent personally. The collective term Crown Jewels denotes the regalia and vestments worn by the sovereign of the United Kingdom during the Coronation ceremony and at various other The Honours of Scotland, also known as the Scottish regalia and the Scottish Crown Jewels, dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are the oldest set of
Like any corporation, the Crown is an artificial person (in this case, coextensive with a natural person) which can own property and has certain rights as provided by law to business entities. In the case of Commonwealth realms, the rights and powers of the Crown vary from state to state, because each national or state Crown is a separate corporation sole. A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 sovereign states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II as their respective Monarch
The Crown, as presented in the person of the Sovereign who holds the corporation sole, is the legal authority for the existence and operations of the government in each Commonwealth realm (including Australian states and Canadian provinces).
Most operations of the Crown are directed by Ministers of each of the democratically elected national parliaments (including Canadian provincial and Australian state parliaments).
Exceptions include ceremonial operations carried out by the sovereign personally, and the so-called Reserve Powers of the Crown, the parameters of which are established by the constitution of each Commonwealth realm, such as the granting of Royal Assent by the Crown in Parliament to legislative acts, and the formal invitation to form a government. In a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of Government, a reserve power is a power that may be exercised by the Head of state without the The granting of Royal Assent is the formal method by which a constitutional monarch completes the legislative process of Lawmaking by formally assenting to an The Queen-in-Parliament (or during the reign of a male monarch King-in-Parliament) sometimes referred to as the Crown-in-Parliament, is a technical term of In general, they are exercised by the Monarch directly or by a vice-regal representative (such as a Governor-General, Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor), to ensure that the elected government follows the rules of the national constitution. The term governor general or governor-general refers to a vice-regal representative of a Monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription A governor is a governing official usually the executive (at least nominally to different degrees also politically and administratively of a non-sovereign level of government A Lieutenant Governor is a high officer of state whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction
For example the Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King was displeased with the results of a general election, including the loss of his own seat, he immediately asked Governor-General Byng to call a new election which the Governor-General refused to do; for further details, see King-Byng Affair. William Lyon Mackenzie King PC OM CMG ( December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy GCB GCMG MVO ( 11 September 1862 &ndash The King-Byng Affair was a Canadian Constitutional crisis that occurred in 1926 when the Governor General of Canada, Lord Byng of Vimy, refused
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, as an example, The Crown in Right of the United Kingdom is an entity that represents all rulership in the UK, but is separate from the person currently wearing it. For instance, the Queen owns some of her castles herself, such as Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle, and if she abdicated she would keep them. Sandringham House is a Country house on of land near the village of Sandringham in Norfolk, England, which is privately owned by the British Balmoral Castle is a large Estate house situated in the area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland known as Royal Deeside. Abdication (from the Latin abdicatio, disowning renouncing from ab, away from and dicare, to declare to proclaim as not belonging to one Others, including Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, and Holyrood Palace, belong to the Crown, and would pass on to the next monarch, whoever that would be. Windsor Castle, in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, is the largest inhabited Castle in the world and dating back to the time of Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. The Palace of Holyroodhouse, or informally Holyrood Palace, founded as a monastery by David I of Scotland in 1128, has served as the principal residence
Crown dependencies
The Crown dependencies are held in Right of the United Kingdom, and the Queen's British ministers have the right to advise her on actions in the dependencies, not their insular ministers. The Crown Dependencies are possessions of The Crown in Right of the United Kingdom, as opposed to overseas territories or colonies of the United The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located
Although the dependencies are not part of the United Kingdom, the Parliament at Westminster has a competency and ability to legislate directly for them, although by convention does not often do so without the consent of their insular legislatures.
Other Commonwealth realms
The Crown in each of the Commonwealth realms is a similar but separate legal concept. A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 sovereign states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II as their respective Monarch
Both Canada and Australia are federations: therefore, besides the Crown in Right of Canada and the Crown in Right of the Commonwealth of Australia, there are Crowns in Right of each Canadian province and each Australian state. The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second largest country in total area. The Commonwealth of Australia is made up of 8 states and territories controlled under a federal system of government For example, there is the Crown in Right of the province of British Columbia. British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C The rights which the Crown possesses in right of a Canadian province are exercised by the province's lieutenant-governor (e. g. , the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia), not the Governor-General of Canada, and such rights are exercised under the advice of the provincial ministers (not the federal ministers). The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia is the vice-regal representative of the Queen of Canada in the province of British Columbia. The Governor General of Canada ( French: Gouverneure générale du Canada, or: Gouverneur général du Canada) is the vice-regal representative The situation in Australia is analogous with governors and state ministers instead of the Canadian equivalents. The Governors of the Australian states are the representatives in the six states of Australia of Australia's monarch Queen Elizabeth II. The Premiers of the Australian states are the de facto heads of the executive governments in the six states of the Commonwealth of Australia.
Crown Servants
Many government workers in the United Kingdom are Crown Servants. The Crown takes responsibility for upholding the Queen's peace, and traditionally prison warders and police officers were directly employed by the Crown, and not by the Prison Service or Police Authorities. The Queen's peace (or during the reign of a male monarch King's peace) is the term used in the Commonwealth realms to describe the protection the monarch in right A police officer (also known as a policeman or policewoman) is a warranted employee of a Police force. In a related way, there is the Crown Prosecution Service in the criminal courts whose lawyers are called Crown Prosecutors. A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law as an attorney, Counsel or Solicitor; a person Those working within the intelligence services such as MI5 and MI6 are also Crown Servants. The Secret Intelligence Service ( SIS) colloquially known as MI6 is the United Kingdom 's external Intelligence agency. Crown servants may not sit as Members of Parliament and this is used as a way of allowing MPs to retire before their time—they are awarded a sinecure job as a Crown Servant and thus disbarred as an MP (see resignation from the British House of Commons). A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. A sinecure (from Latin sine, without and cura, care means an office which requires or involves little or no responsibility labour or active service Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. The Crown is also the source of all justice in the UK, which meant that it was immune from prosecution until the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 opened the Crown to ordinary court claims in contract and tort as for any other person. The Crown Proceedings Act 1947 (1947 c 44 is an Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allowed for the first time Civil
Origins
The concept of the Crown took form under the feudal system, evolving from and synthesising oriental and barbarian concepts of kingship. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed Under the feudal system, in England and (separately) Scotland, all rights and privileges were ultimately granted by the ruler (though this was not the case in all countries that had this system). England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. All land was granted by the Crown to lords, in exchange for feudal services, and they in turn granted the land to lesser lords. One exception to this was common socage—owners of land held as socage held it subject only to the Crown. Socage was one of the feudal duties and hence Land tenure forms in the feudal system. The Crown as ultimate owner of all property also owns any property which has become bona vacantia. Bona vacantia ( Latin for "vacant goods" is a Common law Doctrine in the United Kingdom under which ownerless property passes by law
Exercise of the Rights of the Crown
In Commonwealth law, the expression "Crown in Right of . . . " is often used: e. g. , the Crown in Right of the United Kingdom, the Crown in Right of Canada, the Crown in Right of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Crown in Right of the State of New South Wales, etc. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics.
In practice, the powers of the Crown outside the United Kingdom are rarely exercised by the Monarch directly, but rather by a local vice-regal representative such as a Governor-General, Governor, or Lieutenant Governor, on the advice of the ministers of the appropriate local (federal/national, state or provincial) government. The term governor general or governor-general refers to a vice-regal representative of a Monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription A governor is a governing official usually the executive (at least nominally to different degrees also politically and administratively of a non-sovereign level of government A Lieutenant Governor is a high officer of state whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction In those few cases where the Monarch exercises powers directly, she again generally does so on the advice of the ministers of that government.
In the courts
In criminal proceedings, the prosecuting party is the Crown; generally speaking, this is indicated by having Rex (for a male monarch) or Regina (for a female one) v. The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different Jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential the defendant as the standard for naming criminal trials; in Australia particularly, on official transcripts of criminal trials the heading page reads "(name of defendant) v. The Queen". Rex and Regina are typically abbreviated R , for example a criminal case against Smith might be R v Smith, read "Crown against Smith".
This practice of using the seat of sovereignty as the injured party is analogous with criminal cases in the United States, where the format is ["the people" or "the State"] v. Sovereignty is the exclusive Right to control a Government, a country, a people or oneself The United States of America —commonly referred to as the [the defendant] (e. g. People of the State of New York v. LaValle or State ex rel TLO) per popular sovereignty. Facts Steven LaValle who murdered high-school track coach Cynthia Quinn during her morning jog (the court states she was stabbed seventy-three times with a Screwdriver New Jersey v T L O, 469 US 325 ( 1985) was a case appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1984, involving Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the belief that the legitimacy of the State is created by the will or consent of its people, who
The Crown can also be a plaintiff or defendant in civil actions to which the government of the Commonwealth Realm in question is a party. Such Crown proceedings are often subject to specific rules and limitations, for example about the way judgments against the Crown can be enforced. In English law, Crown proceedings are legal proceedings which involve The Crown, and this would include all government departments
Powers of the Crown
The powers which belong to each Crown in right of a particular realm can only be exercised on the advice of the ministers of the realm. So, for example, the rights which the Crown possesses in right of the United Kingdom can only be exercised under the advice of British ministers, and the rights which the Crown possesses in right of Canada can only be exercised under the advice of Canadian ministers. In the Politics of the United Kingdom, the Cabinet is a formal body composed of the most senior government ministers chosen by the Prime Minister The Cabinet of Canada (Cabinet du Canada plays an important role in the Government of Canada, in accordance with the Westminster System. The British prime minister cannot advise Her Majesty in exercise of her rights in regard to Canada, nor can the Canadian prime minister advise her in exercise of her rights in regard to the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom The Prime Minister of Canada ( French: Premier ministre du Canada) is the primary Minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus This applies also to various governments of a federation, so the ministers of the Commonwealth of Australia may not advise the Her Majesty in exercise of her rights in regard to the state of Victoria, for instance, in the appointment of a state Governor.
The monarch, or her appointed representative, has the legal right to refuse the advice of ministers, and act instead in accordance with her personal views. However, these "reserve powers" are almost never used, outside of times of constitutional crisis. In a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of Government, a reserve power is a power that may be exercised by the Head of state without the A constitutional crisis is a severe breakdown in the orderly operation of Government.
See also
- Crown copyright
- Crown dependency
- Royal Prerogative
- Succession to the British Throne
- Imperial Crown: legal usage
- Doctrine of the Holy Crown (Hungary)
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