Oath of Allegiance (United Kingdom)

The Oath of Allegiance (Judicial or Official Oath) is a promise to be loyal to the British monarch, and their heirs and successors, sworn by certain public servants in the United Kingdom, and also by newly naturalised subjects in citizenship ceremonies. The current standard wording of the oath of allegiance is set out in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868.

Variants of the basic oath of allegiance are also incorporated into a number of other oaths taken by certain individuals.

Text

The current standard oath of allegiance is set out from the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 in the following form:

Under the Oaths Act 1888 ( 51 & 52 Vict. c.46), consolidated and repealed by the Oaths Act 1978 (c. 19), those who choose to may make a solemn affirmation instead of swearing an oath.

Oaths of office, of allegiance, and judicial oath

The Victorian promissory oaths of allegiances, are set out in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 ( 31 & 32 Vict. c. 72) in the following form:

*The original oath of allegiance as set out in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868:
*The original oath of office as set out in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868:
*The original judicial oath as set out in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868:

Oaths to heirs and successors

The oath is generally sworn to the Crown, monarch, sovereign, or regent, as represented by the incumbent king or queen, currently Charles III. The oath also specifies that this same oath to the king, is equally sworn to his "heirs and successors", in the plural, rather than a single heir and successor. This indicates that any oath given to the king is equally given to William, Prince of Wales, Prince George, and all of his heirs and successors to the British throne, in the event that any one of them should accede to the throne. Thus, the pledge of loyalty to the Crown made in the oath does not end at the death of the current monarch.

The oath to the king, his heirs and successors is now administered in citizen ceremonies to immigrants becoming naturalized British subjects.

Members of the judiciary (justices of the peace, district judges, circuit judges etc.) swear their allegiance to the king and his heirs and successors; police officers in England and Wales pledge their allegiance to the king, but not his heirs and successors. Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) do not swear an oath of allegiance. The PSNI in 2001 replaced the Royal Ulster Constabulary, whose members pledged their allegiance to the late Queen Elizabeth II, but not her heirs and successors. The Scottish police have never pledged allegiance. Members of the Privy Council only swear allegiance to the "King's majesty", not to the king's heirs and successors.

History

Origins

The oath of allegiance was performed to King Edgar (–8 July 975).

The oath was certainly in use as of the date of John, King of England's Magna Carta, signed on 15 June 1215. Once the terms had been finalised on 19 June, the rebels again swore allegiance to King John. The later Bill of Rights (1689) included the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown, which was required by Magna Carta to be taken by all crown servants and members of the judiciary.

Over the following centuries this evolved into three separate oaths: of supremacy (repudiation of the spiritual or ecclesiastical authority of any foreign prince, person or prelate), allegiance (declaration of fidelity to the Sovereign), and in 1702, abjuration (repudiation of the right and title of descendants of James II to the throne). Oaths of allegiance were exacted from the Lords by Henry IV and Henry VI in 1455 and 1459, and an oath of supremacy was introduced under Henry VIII in 1534. Elizabeth I introduced an Act of Supremacy in 1563 requiring an oath to be taken by all future members of the House of Commons. A new oath of allegiance appeared under James I (prompted by the " Gunpowder Plot") under the Popish Recusants Act 1605 and the Oath of Allegiance Act 1609. The oath required recognition of James I as lawful King and renunciation of the Pope. The 1609 Act required Commons MPs to take the oath of allegiance and of supremacy, but this was not a "parliamentary" oath, as it was not taken in Parliament, and there were no consequences if not sworn.

1660–1858

After the Restoration, oaths of supremacy and allegiance were imposed upon all MPs and peers in Parliament. The Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy Act 1688, passed after the Glorious Revolution installed William III and Mary II as monarchs, replaced the old oaths of supremacy and allegiance with shorter ones in almost the modern form. The deposed King James II died in exile in 1701, and King Louis XIV of France and the Jacobite adherents of the Stuart claim proclaimed James II's son, James Francis Edward Stuart, rightful king James III. The Act of Settlement 1701, quickly passed in response, substantially extended the old oaths, while the Security of the Succession, etc. Act 1701 added an oath of abjuration of "the Person ..pretending to be and taking upon himself the Stile and Title of King of England by the Name of James the Third". This oath pledged support for the Hanoverian succession and for the exclusion of the Stuarts.

19th century

The Oaths Act 1858 ( 21 & 22 Vict. c. 48) prescribed a single form of the oath in place of the former three. This single form retained a declaration of allegiance and a promise to defend the Hanoverian succession. A declaration relating to the supremacy of the sovereign was also included and the oath continued to be made "on the true faith of a Christian". However, both of these latter elements disappeared from the revised version of the single oath that was subsequently prescribed in the Parliamentary Oaths Act 1866, which repealed much of the earlier pieces of legislation insofar as they related to oaths taken by Members of Parliament.

Finally, in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 a further curtailment to the oath was made, thereby establishing the form of the oath still used today. The direct religious content disappeared along with the declarations relating to the supremacy of the sovereign. In its current form, the oath conforms fairly closely to the medieval (feudal) oath of allegiance.

20th century

After the general right to affirm was guaranteed in 1888, the Oaths Act 1909 introduced a change to the ordinary method of taking oaths, which provided for oaths to be sworn on the Bible: in case of a Christian, on the New Testament, and in the case of a Jew on the Old Testament. This Act also established the usual form of taking the oath, with the phrase "I swear by Almighty God that...". Section 1 of the Oaths Act 1888 (on the right to affirm) was replaced in the Administration of Justice Act 1977.

The Oaths Act 1961 extended the Oaths Act 1888, but did not apply to parliamentary oaths. All of the provisions in the Oaths Act 1838, Oaths Act 1888, Oaths Act 1909, Oaths Act 1961 and Oaths Act 1977 were repealed and consolidated in the Oaths Act 1978, although the form of wording of the oath set out in the 1868 act was preserved. The 1978 Oaths Act contains provisions relating to the manner of administering the oath, the option of swearing with uplifted hand, the validity of oaths, the making of solemn affirmations and the form of affirmation. The current Oath of Allegiance or Official Oath is set out in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868.

Historical oaths

To James I

To Charles I

To George IV

Office-holders

The Oath of Allegiance or Official Oath is made by each of the following office-holders as soon as possible after their acceptance of office:

* First Lord of the Treasury (Held ''ex officio'' by the Prime Minister)
* Second Lord of the Treasury (Held ''ex officio'' by the Chancellor of the Exchequer)
*Lord Chancellor
* Lord President of the Council
* Lord Privy Seal
* Secretaries of State
*President of the Board of Trade
* Lord Steward
* Lord Chamberlain
* Earl Marshal
* Master of the Horse
* Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
*Paymaster General
* Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland (since 1999 held ''ex officio'' by the First Minister of Scotland)
* Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland
* Lord Clerk Register
* Advocate General for Scotland
* Lord Justice Clerk
* First Minister of Wales (since the Government of Wales Act 2006 came into force in May 2007)

The Oath in England is tendered by the Clerk of the Privy Council, and taken in the presence of the King in Council, or otherwise as the King shall direct, and in Scotland is tendered by the Lord President of the Court of Session at a sitting of the court.

Privy counsellor oath

On appointment a new privy counsellor takes the oath of allegiance, or affirms loyalty:

Parliamentarians

Under the Parliamentary Oaths Act 1866, members of both Houses of Parliament are required to take an Oath of Allegiance upon taking their seat in Parliament, after a general election, or by-election, and after the death of the monarch. Until the oath or affirmation is taken, an MP may not receive a salary, take their seat, speak in debates or vote. The wording of the oath comes from the Promissory Oaths Act 1868:

Members who object to swearing the oath are permitted to make a solemn affirmation under the terms of the Oaths Act 1978:

The oath or affirmation must be taken in English although the Speaker has allowed Members to recite Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Scots, Ulster Scots or Cornish forms in addition, and texts of the oath and affirmation in Braille are available for use by Members of both Houses with impaired sight. While the oath is taken, the new member holds a copy of a sacred text. While there is no set list of sacred texts for use, this is normally a copy of the New Testament or Bible for Christians, or, for Jews, the Tanakh

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