1. Background
The
eclipse of the Privy Council as a practical instrument of government came with
the development in the eighteenth century of the Cabinet as the policy making
organ and advisory body of the Crown.
2.
The composition of the Privy Council
The
Lords, and other of Her Majesty's most Honorable Privy Council now about three
hundred in numbers, consist Of persons who hold or have held high political or
legal office, peers, Church dignitaries and persons- distinguished in the
services and professions. They are appointed by letters patent, and include the
Lord President of the Council, all Cabinet Ministers by convention, the two
Archbishops by prescription, and customarily some of the leading Commonwealth
statesmen, British Ambassadors, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lords
of Appeal in Ordinary, the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls, the
President of the Family Division, and the Lords Justice of Appeal.
3. Functions of the Privy Council
The
Privy Council became too unwieldy as an instrument of government Owing to the
development of the Cabinet and government departments, the Council lost most of
its advisory and administrative functions and are today little more than an organ
for giving formal effect to certain acts done under prerogative or statutory
powers.
a.
Proclamations and Orders in Council
The
most important acts done by Her Majesty "by and with the advice of her
Privy Council" take the form of proclamations or Orders in Council, the
former normally being authorized by the latter. Proclamations are employed for
such matters as proroguing, dissolving and summoning Parliament and declaring
war or peace solemn occasions requiring the widest publicity.
b.
Miscellaneous functions
A
Privy Council is also summoned for certain special occasions, such as the
acceptance of office by newly appointed Ministers, and the annual
"pricking of sheriffs on Mandy Thursday.
c. Meetings
of the Privy Council
Privy
Councilors are summoned to attend at Buckingham Palace, or wherever else the
Sovereign may be. The, quorum is three. Usually four are summoned, being
Ministers concerned with the business in hand.
d. Committees
of the Council
Any
meeting of Privy Councilors at which the Sovereign or Councilors of State are
not present can only be a committee. Apart from the Judicial Committee; there
are advisory or ad hoc committees concerned with such matters as scientific
research and the grant of charters.
e. Composition
of the Judicial Committee
The
Judicial Committee Act 1833, passed "for the better administration of
justice in His Majesty's Privy Council," constituted a Judicial Committee.
The Judicial Committee Act 1844 authorized the Queen by Order in Council to
admit any appeals to the Privy Council from any court within any 'British
colony or possession abroad, even though such court might not be a court of
error or of appeal.
As a
result of the Act of 1833 and various later statutes, the Judicial Committee is
composed of:
a. the
Lord Chancellor; the Lord President and ex-Lord Presidents of the Council (who
do not sits; the Lords of the Appeal in Ordinary; and the Lords Justices of
Appeal (who seldom sit);
(b)
ex-Lord Chancellors and retired Lords of Appeal;
(c)
Selected senior judges or ex-judges of Australia, New Zealand and other
Commonwealths countries from which appeal lies.
f. The
quorum is three
The
composition of the Judicial Committee is wider than that of the House of Lords
sitting as a final court of appeal.
g. Jurisdiction
The
Judicial Committee was given the jurisdiction of the Privy Council set out
above, namely, appeals from the courts of the Channel Island, the isle of Man,
the colonies and British India, and from the ecclesiastical courts and
Admiralty Court, to which were later added appeals from prize courts.
Appeals
in probate, divorce and admiralty causes were later transferred to the House of
Lords. The Judicial Committee also has a united appellate jurisdiction over the
ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England.
Modern
statutes have given a right of appeal to the Judicial Committee-from the
tribunals of various professional organizations having power to strike a member
of the register.
h. Procedure
Rules
of practice are made under the Act of 1833 appeals, or requests for leave to
appeal, are commenced by petition to the Crown. Usually only one
"judgment" is given by the Board. This is in theory a report made to
Her Majesty of the reasons why judgment should be given in favor of a particular
party; but the Committee is regarded for practical purposes a court, and the
Queen is bound by convention to give effect to its advice, which is done by
Order in Council. Indeed, the report is made public before it is sent up to the
Sovereign in Council.
i. Special
reference
Section
4 of the Judicial Committee Act 1833 provides that the Crown may refer to the
Committee for an advisory opinion any matter it may think fit. In practice, references
under this section are confined to justifiable matters.
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