The Royal Prerogative

key features of prerogative powers

• Formally in the possession of the Crown.
• Not statutory (they derive from common law)
• Residual (their scope can be reduced but not increased).
• Exercised by Government.
• ‘. . . that special pre-eminence which the King hath over and above all other persons, and out of the ordinary course of the common law, in right of his regal dignity- Blackstone
• Blackstone: ‘Prerogative is, properly speaking, legal power which appertains to the Crown but not to its subjects .

Development of RP before and after 1688

• divine right of kings vs limitation of powers
• King vs Parliament (tax raising power and imprisoning without trail) In. 1629, Charles I dissolved Parliament and not summoned for 11 years. (the Eleven Years’ Tyranny), King Charles ruled by personal decree. (royal proclamations - Do you remember? )

CASE OF PROCLAMATIONS [1610] EWHC KB J22

• King James I considered that he had the power to alter the law without Parliamentary consent by issuing royal proclamations. ‘. . . the King by his proclamation . . . cannot change any part of the common law, or statute law, or customs of the realm’, and that ‘the King hath no prerogative but that which the law of the land allows him’ -Sir Edward Coke