King's Consent

Not to be confused with Royal assent.

In the UK and certain other Commonwealth countries, King's Consent[a] is a parliamentary convention under which Crown consent is sought whenever a proposed parliamentary bill will affect the Crown's own prerogatives or interests (hereditary revenues, personal property, estates, or other interests). Prince's Consent is a similar doctrine, under which consent of the Prince of Wales must be obtained for matters relating to the Duchy of Cornwall.[3] King's or Prince's Consent must be obtained early in the legislative process, generally before parliament may debate or vote on a bill.[4] In modern times, following the tenets of constitutional monarchy, consent is granted or withheld as advised by government.

According to the 1851 edition of Erskine May, the manual of UK parliamentary practice, the practical advantage of Queen's Consent (as it then was, Queen Victoria being on the throne) was that it enabled the Crown to protect its rights without having to resort to blocking a bill after its passage by refusing royal assent. More recently, however, there has been criticism of the Crown being consulted on the content of forthcoming bills, and being given "the right and opportunity to shape prospective legislation".[5] Critics allege that even though the Crown may never formally withhold its consent contrary to government advice, the procedure is nevertheless being used to vet and change draft bills before they reach Parliament. One report noted that it was "almost certain that some Bills were changed before introduction in order to address concerns about Crown consent".[6][7]

  1. ^ "1st Session, 38th Parliament - Other Business - Speaker's Ruling". Journals of the Senate (15). Ottawa: Parliament of Canada. 17 November 2004. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Standing Orders, 6th edition, 2nd revision". The Scottish Parliament. 30 June 2021. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021.
  3. ^ HC 784, p. 1.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference scotmemo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference severinevans was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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