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The King-in-Parliament (or, during the reign of a female monarch, Queen-in-Parliament), sometimes referred neutrally as the Crown-in-Parliament, is a technical term of constitutional law in the
Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealt ...
s that refers to
the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...
in its legislative role, acting with the
advice and consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something previ ...
of the parliament (including, if the parliament is
bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gr ...
, both the lower house and
upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...
). Bills passed by the houses are sent to the sovereign, or governor-general,
lieutenant-governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-co ...
, or
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
as his representative, for
Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...
, which, once granted, makes the bill into law; these primary acts of legislation are known as '' acts of parliament''. An act may also provide for secondary legislation, which can be made by the Crown, subject to the simple approval, or the lack of disapproval, of parliament. Several countries, although having received their independence from the United Kingdom, operate under a system of President-in-Parliament, which formally designates the President as a component of Parliament alongside the House or two Houses.


Fusion of powers

The concept of the Crown as a part of parliament is related to the idea of the fusion of powers, meaning that the executive branch and
legislative branch A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...
of government are fused together. This is a key concept of the Westminster system of government, developed in England and used across
the Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territorial evolution of the British Empire ...
and beyond. It is in contradistinction to the idea of the
separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typi ...
. The specific language of "the Crown", "the King", or "the Queen" in parliament used in the Commonwealth realms also alludes to the constitutional theory that ultimate authority or sovereignty rests with the monarch, but is delegated to elected and/or appointed officials. In federal realms of the Commonwealth, the concept of the Crown-in-the-Legislature only applies to those units which are considered separate divisions of the monarchy, sovereign within their own sphere, such as Australian states or the
Canadian provinces Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nort ...
. By contrast to states or provinces, no equivalent constitutional concept exists in the territories of Australia and Canada, which are not sovereign. The legislature of a territory does not receive its authority directly from the monarch, being instead delegated by the federal parliament. Similarly, with
city councils A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...
and other local governments in the Commonwealth, the idea of the Crown-in-Council is not used, as the authority of local governments is derived from a charter or act that can be unilaterally amended by a higher level of government.


Practical role in legislating

Because of the sovereign's place in the enactment of laws, the
enacting clause An enacting clause is a short phrase that introduces the main provisions of a law enacted by a legislature. It is also called enacting formula or enacting words. It usually declares the source from which the law claims to derive its authority. In ...
of acts of Parliament may mention him or her, as well as the other one or two bodies of parliament. For example, British acts of parliament will start with: "BE IT ENACTED by the 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 phrasing, however, is different when the bill is passed under the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, without the consent of the House of Lords.) Similarly,
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
acts of Parliament typically contain the following enacting clause: "NOW, THEREFORE, His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows..." Because the King remains a part of parliament, the enacting clause does not need to explicitly mention him, as in realms such as
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
and
Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northea ...
, where the clause is simply "The Parliament of Australia enacts" and "ENACTED by the Parliament of Tuvalu...", respectively. This may represent a distinction between whether parliament or the King is the primary legislator, however. Similarly, the Canadian province of
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...
does not use a Westminster-style enacting clause. Provincial statutes instead use the clause: "The Parliament of Québec enacts as follows." The
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...
follows a different approach. Although its acts require Royal Assent, the Scottish Parliament's authority is delegated from the United Kingdom Parliament, and there is no directly equivalent concept of "King-in-(Scottish) Parliament". Instead of the enacting clause seen in UK acts, acts of the Scottish Parliament bear the following text above the long title: "The Bill for this Act of the Scottish Parliament was passed by the Parliament on (date) and received Royal Assent on (date)".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King-In-Parliament Australian constitutional law Law of Canada Constitution of the United Kingdom Monarchy in Canada Monarchy in Australia Monarchy in New Zealand