The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of either the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

or the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

. The Privy Council formally advises the sovereign on the exercise of the

Royal Prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy, as belonging to the sovereign and which have become widely vested in th ...

, and as a body corporate (as

King-in-Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of ap ...

) it issues executive instruments known as

Orders in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''King ...

which, among other powers, enact

Acts of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament be ...

. The Council also holds the delegated authority to issue

Orders of Council An Order of Council is a form of legislation in the United Kingdom. It is made by the Lords of the Privy Council (in practice, ministers of the Crown). Orders of Council differ from Orders in Council in that, while Orders in Council are orders ...

, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. The Council advises the sovereign on the issuing of Royal Charters, which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, and

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

status to local authorities. Otherwise, the Privy Council's powers have now been largely replaced by its executive committee, the

Cabinet of the United Kingdom The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the senior decision-making body of His Majesty's Government. A committee of the Privy Council, it is chaired by the prime minister and its members include secretaries of state and other senior ministers. ...

. Certain judicial functions are also performed by the King-in-Council, although in practice its actual work of hearing and deciding upon cases is carried out day-to-day by the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Aug ...

. The Judicial Committee consists of senior judges appointed as privy counsellors: predominantly

justices A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ( initialism: UKSC or the acronym: SCOTUK) is the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom for all civil cases, and for criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. As the Unite ...

and

senior judge Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at least ...

s from the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

. The Privy Council formerly acted as the High Court of Appeal for the entire

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

(other than for the United Kingdom itself). It continues to hear judicial appeals from some other independent

Commonwealth countries The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states. Most of them were British colonies or dependencies of those colonies. No one government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others, as is the case in a p ...

, as well as Crown Dependencies and

British Overseas Territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...

History

The

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

of the United Kingdom, created on 1 January 1801, was preceded by the Privy Council of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, the Privy Council of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, and the Privy Council of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

(1708–1800). The key events in the formation of the modern Privy Council are given below: In

Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom of ...

Witenagemot The Witan () was the king's council in Anglo-Saxon England from before the seventh century until the 11th century. It was composed of the leading magnates, both ecclesiastic and secular, and meetings of the council were sometimes called the Wi ...

was an early equivalent to the

Privy Council of England The Privy Council of England, also known as His (or Her) Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (), was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England. Its members were often senior members of the House of Lords and the House of ...

. During the reigns of the Norman monarchs, the

English Crown This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself King of the Anglo-Sa ...

was advised by a

royal court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

or '' curia regis'', which consisted of

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

s, ecclesiastics and high officials. The body originally concerned itself with advising the sovereign on legislation, administration and justice. Later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing

justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

, while

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

became the supreme legislature of the kingdom. Nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the sovereign on the advice of the Council, rather than on the advice of Parliament, were accepted as valid.Gay, p. 2. Powerful sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the Courts and Parliament. For example, a committee of the Council—which later became the

Court of the Star Chamber The Star Chamber (Latin: ''Camera stellata'') was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (c. 1641), and was composed of Privy Counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judi ...

—was during the 15th century permitted to inflict any punishment except death, without being bound by normal court procedure. During

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

's reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation. The legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIII's death. The nineteen-member council by 1540 had become a new national institution, likely, the creation of

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false char ...

without exact definitions of its powers. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became a primarily administrative body. The Council consisted of forty members in 1553, whereas Henry VII swore over a hundred servants to his council. Sovereigns relied on a smaller working committee which evolved into the modern

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. By the end of the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...

, the monarchy, House of Lords, and Privy Council had been abolished. The remaining parliamentary chamber, the

, instituted a

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

to execute laws and to direct administrative policy. The forty-one members of the Council were elected by the House of Commons; the body was headed by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

, ''de facto'' military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell became

Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') was a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometimes ...

, and the Council was reduced to between thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs. The Council became known as the

Protector's Privy Council The English Council of State, later also known as the Protector's Privy Council, was first appointed by the Rump Parliament on 14 February 1649 after the execution of King Charles I. Charles' execution on 30 January was delayed for several hour ...

; its members were appointed by the Lord Protector, subject to Parliament's approval. In 1659, shortly before the

restoration of the monarchy Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration *Restoration ecology ...

, the Protector's Council was abolished. Charles II restored the Royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small group of advisers. The formation of the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, wh ...

in 1707 combined the Privy Councils of England and Scotland, the latter body coming to an end in 1708. Under

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

even more power transferred to a small committee of the Council, which began to meet in the absence of the sovereign, communicating its decisions to him after the fact. Thus, the Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisers to the Sovereign; the role passed to a committee of the Council, now known as the

. With the creation of the United Kingdom on 1 January 1801, a single Privy Council was created for Great Britain and Ireland, although the Irish Privy Council continued to exist until 1922.

Functions

The sovereign exercises executive authority by making

upon the advice of the Privy Council. Orders-in-Council, which are drafted by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

rather than by the sovereign, are secondary legislation and are used to make government regulations and to make government appointments. Furthermore, Orders-in-Council are used to grant

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 ...

for laws passed by the legislatures of British Crown Dependencies, and were used to grant royal assent for

Measures of the National Assembly for Wales A Measure of the National Assembly for Wales (informally, an Assembly Measure) is primary legislation in Wales that is a category lower than an Act of Parliament. In the case of contemporary Welsh law, the difference with Acts is that the compe ...

, distinct from Orders-in-Council, are issued by members of the Privy Council without requiring the approval of the sovereign. They are issued under the specific authority of

, and most commonly are used for the regulation of public institutions. The sovereign also grants

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

s on the advice of the Privy Council. Charters bestow special status to incorporated bodies; they are used to grant " chartered" status to certain professional, educational or charitable bodies, and sometimes also

and

status to towns. The Privy Council therefore deals with a wide range of matters, which also includes university and livery company statutes,Gay and Rees, p. 5.

churchyard In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...

s, coinage and the dates of

bank holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or h ...

s. The Privy Council formerly had sole power to grant academic degree-awarding powers and the title of

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, but following the

Higher Education and Research Act 2017 The Higher Education and Research Act 2017 (c. 29) was enacted into law in the United Kingdom by the Houses of Parliament on 27 April 2017. It is intended to create a new regulatory framework for higher education, increase competition and student ...

these powers have been transferred to the

Office for Students The Office for Students (OfS) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Education, acting as the regulator and competition authority for the higher education sector in England. In February 2021, James Wharton, Baron Wharton of Yarm ...

for educational institutions in England.

Notable orders

The

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

is formally governed by Privy Council Orders, as an exercise of the

. One such order implemented HM Government's ban of

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Uni ...

staff from joining a trade union. Another, the Civil Service (Amendment) Order in Council 1997, permitted the Prime Minister to grant up to three political advisers management authority over some Civil Servants.

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

�
What's the Point of ... The Privy Council
, 12 May 2009 In the 1960s, the Privy Council made an order to evict the 2,000 inhabitants of the 65-island

Chagos Archipelago The Chagos Archipelago () or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives arc ...

in the Indian Ocean, in preparation for the establishment of a joint United States–United Kingdom military base on the largest outlying island,

Diego Garcia Diego Garcia is an island of the British Indian Ocean Territory, a disputed overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is a militarised atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, and the largest of the 60 small islands of ...

, some distant. In 2000, the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC ( Engl ...

ruled that the inhabitants had a right to return to the archipelago. In 2004, the Privy Council, under

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...

's tenure, overturned the ruling. In 2006, the

found the Privy Council's decision to be unlawful. Justice Kentridge stated that there was no known

precedent A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great v ...

"for the lawful use of prerogative powers to remove or exclude an entire population of British subjects from their homes and place of birth", BBC�
Court victory for Chagos families
, 11 May 2006 and the Court of Appeal were persuaded by this argument, but the Law Lords of the

Appellate Committee of the House of Lords Whilst the House of Lords of the United Kingdom is the upper chamber of Parliament and has government ministers, it for many centuries had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachments, ...

found the original decision to be flawed and overturned the ruling by a 3–2 decision, thereby upholding the terms of the Order in Council.

Committees

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council - Court 3

The Privy Council has committees:

Baronetage Committee

The Baronetage Committee was established by a 1910 Order in Council, during

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second chil ...

's reign, to scrutinise all succession claims (and thus reject doubtful ones) to be placed on the Roll of Baronets.

Committee for the Affairs of Jersey and Guernsey

The Committee for the Affairs of Jersey and Guernsey recommends approval of

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

legislation.

Committee for the Purposes of the Crown Office Act 1877

The Committee for the purposes of the Crown Office Act 1877 consists of the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

and

Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. Originally, ...

as well as a secretary of state. The Committee, which last met in 1988, is concerned with the design and usage of wafer seals.

Executive Committee

The

is the executive committee of the Privy Council and the senior decision-making body of

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

Judicial Committee

The Judicial Committee serves as the

final court of appeal A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

for the Crown Dependencies, the

, some

countries, military sovereign base areas and a few institutions in the

. The Judicial Committee also hears very occasional appeals from a number of ancient and ecclesiastical courts. These include the

Church Commissioners The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Ecc ...

, the

Arches Court of Canterbury The Arches Court, presided over by the Dean of Arches, is an ecclesiastical court of the Church of England covering the Province of Canterbury. Its equivalent in the Province of York is the Chancery Court. It takes its name from the street-lev ...

, the

Chancery Court of York The Chancery Court of York is an ecclesiastical court for the Province of York of the Church of England. It receives appeals from consistory courts of dioceses within the province. The presiding officer, the Official Principal and Auditor, has ...

, prize courts, the

High Court of Chivalry His Majesty's High Court of Chivalry is a Civil law (legal system), civil law (i.e., non common law) court in English and Welsh law with jurisdiction over matters of heraldry. The court has been in existence since the fourteenth century; however ...

, and the

Court of Admiralty Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries, and offences. Admiralty courts in the United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest ...

of the

Cinque Ports The Confederation of Cinque Ports () is a historic group of coastal towns in south-east England – predominantly in Kent and Sussex, with one outlier ( Brightlingsea) in Essex. The name is Old French, meaning "five harbours", and alludes to t ...

. This committee usually consists of members of the

and senior judges of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the C ...

who are Privy Counsellors. Within the United Kingdom, the Judicial Committee hears appeals from

ecclesiastical courts An ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages, these courts had much wider powers in many areas of Europe than ...

, the Admiralty Court of the Cinque Ports, Prize Courts and the Disciplinary Committee of the

Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom, established in 1844 by royal charter. It is responsible for monitoring the educational, ethical and clinical standards of the ...

, appeals against schemes of the

and appeals under certain Acts of Parliament (e.g., the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975). The Crown-in-Council was formerly the supreme appellate court for the entire

, but a number of Commonwealth countries have now abolished the right to such appeals. The Judicial Committee continues to hear appeals from several Commonwealth countries, from

, Sovereign Base Area, Sovereign Base Areas and Crown Dependencies. The Judicial Committee had direct jurisdiction in cases relating to the Scotland Act 1998, the Government of Wales Act 1998 and the Northern Ireland Act 1998, but this was transferred to the new UK Supreme Court in 2009.Gay and Rees, p. 6.

Scottish Universities Committee

The Ancient universities of Scotland, Scottish Universities Committee considers proposed amendments to the statutes of Ancient universities of Scotland, Scotland's four ancient universities.

Universities Committee

The Universities in the United Kingdom, Universities Committee, which last met in 1995, considers petitions against statutes made by Oxford and Cambridge universities and their colleges.

Other committees

In addition to the standing committees, ''ad hoc'' committees are notionally set up to consider and report on petitions for

s of Incorporation and to approve changes to the bye-laws of corporate body, bodies created by royal charter. Committees of privy counsellors are occasionally established to examine specific issues. Such committees are independent of the Privy Council Office and therefore do not report directly to the lord president of the council. Examples of such committees include: * the Butler Review, Butler Committee – operation of the intelligence services in the runup to military intervention in Iraq * the Chilcot Committee – for the Chilcot Inquiry on the use of intercept materials * the Peter Gibson, Gibson Committee of enquiry set up in 2010 – to consider whether the UK security services were complicit in torture of detainees.

Membership

Composition

Thomas Rowlandson - The Privy Council of a King - Google Art Project

The Sovereign, when acting on the Council's advice, is known as the ''

'' or ''Queen-in-Council'', depending on the gender of the reigning monarch. The members of the Council are collectively known as ''The Lords of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council'' (sometimes ''The Lords and others of ...''). The chief officer of the body is the Lord President of the Council, who is the fourth-highest Great Officer of State, a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet member and normally, either the Leader of the House of Lords or of the House of Commons. Another important official is the Clerk of the Privy Council (United Kingdom), Clerk, whose signature is appended to all orders made in the Council. Both ''Privy Counsellor'' and ''Privy Councillor'' may correctly be used to refer to a member of the Council. The former, however, is preferred by the Privy Council Office (United Kingdom), Privy Council Office, emphasising English usage of the term ''Counsellor'' as "one who gives counsel", as opposed to "one who is a member of a council". A Privy Counsellor is traditionally said to be "''sworn of''" the Council after being received by the sovereign. The sovereign may appoint any person as a Privy Counsellor, but in practice, appointments are made only on the advice of His Majesty's Government. The majority of appointees are senior politicians, including ministers of the Crown, the leader of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition (United Kingdom), the main opposition party, the leader of the third-largest party in the House of Commons, the heads of the devolved administrations, and senior politicians from Commonwealth countries. Besides these, the Council includes a small number of members of the British Royal Family, Royal Family, some senior British and Commonwealth judges, some senior clergy, and a small number of senior civil servants. There is no statutory limit to the membership of the Privy Council.Gay, p. 3. Members have no automatic right to attend all Privy Council meetings, and only some are summoned regularly to meetings (in practice at the Powers of the prime minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister's discretion). The Church of England's three senior bishops – the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London – become privy counsellors upon appointment. Senior members of the Royal Family may also be appointed, but this is confined to the Monarch's Prince consort, consort, heir apparent, and heir apparent's spouse. The Private Secretary to the Sovereign is always appointed a Privy Counsellor, as are the Lord Chamberlain, the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons, and the Lord Speaker. Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Justices of the

, judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, senior judges of the Court of Session, Inner House of the Court of Session (Scotland's highest law court) and the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland also join the Privy Council ''ex officio''. The balance of Privy Counsellors is largely made up of politicians. The Prime Minister,

Minister (government), ministers and the Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of HM Opposition are traditionally sworn into the Privy Council upon appointment. Leaders of major political parties in the United Kingdom, parties in the House of Commons, first ministers of the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved administrations, some senior ministers outside Cabinet, and on occasion other respected senior parliamentarians are appointed privy counsellors. Because Privy Counsellors are bound by oath to keep matters discussed at Council meetings secret, the appointment of the leaders of opposition parties as privy counsellors allows the Government to share confidential information with them "on Privy Council terms". This usually only happens in special circumstances, such as in matters of national security. For example, Tony Blair met Iain Duncan Smith (then Leader of HM Opposition) and Charles Kennedy (then Leader of the Liberal Democrats) "on Privy Council terms" to discuss the September Dossier, evidence for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Although the Privy Council is primarily a British institution, officials from some other Commonwealth realm, Commonwealth realms are also appointed. By 2000, the most notable instance was New Zealand, whose Prime Minister of New Zealand, Prime Minister, senior politicians, Chief Justice and Court of Appeal Justices were traditionally appointed Privy Counsellors. However, appointments of New Zealand members have since been discontinued. The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Prime Minister, the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, Speaker, the Governor-General of New Zealand, Governor-General and the Chief Justice of New Zealand are still accorded the style (manner of address), style ''Right Honourable'', but without membership of the Council. Until the late 20th century, the prime ministers and chief justices of Canada and Australia were also appointed privy counsellors. Canada also has its own Privy Council, the King's Privy Council for Canada (''see'' #Other councils, below). Prime ministers of some other Commonwealth countries that retain the King as their sovereign continue to be sworn of the Council.

Meetings

Meetings of the Privy Council are normally held once each month wherever the Sovereign may be in residence at the time. The quorum, according to the Privy Council Office, is three, though some statutes provide for other quorums (for example, section 35 of the General Optical Council, Opticians Act 1989 provides for a lower quorum of two). The Sovereign attends the meeting, though their place may be taken by two or more Counsellors of State.Gay and Rees, p. 4. Under the Regency Acts 1937 to 1953 and the Counsellors of State Act 2022, Counsellors of state may be chosen from among the sovereign's spouse, the four individuals next in the Succession to the British throne, line of succession who are over 21 years of age (18 for the first in line), Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward and Anne, Princess Royal, Princess Anne. Customarily the sovereign remains standing at meetings of the Privy Council, so that no other members may sit down, thereby keeping meetings short. The Lord President of the Council, lord president reads out a list of orders to be made, and the sovereign merely says "Approved". Few Privy Counsellors are required to attend regularly. The settled practice is that day-to-day meetings of the Council are attended by four Privy Counsellors, usually the relevant minister to the matter(s) pertaining. The Cabinet Minister holding the office of Lord President of the Council invariably presides. Under Britain's modern conventions of parliamentary government and constitutional monarchy, every Order-in-Council is drafted by a Civil Service (United Kingdom), government department and has already been approved by the minister responsible – thus actions taken by the

are formalities required for validation of each measure. Full meetings of the Privy Council are held only when the reigning Sovereign announces their own engagement (which last happened on 23 November 1839, in the reign of Queen Victoria); or when there is a Demise of the Crown, either by the death or abdication of the Monarch. A full meeting of the Privy Council was also held on 6 February 1811, when the George IV of the United Kingdom, Prince of Wales was sworn in as regent by Regency Acts, Act of Parliament. The Regency Acts, current statutes regulating the establishment of a regency in the case of minority or incapacity of the sovereign also require any regents to swear their oaths before the Privy Council. In the case of a Demise of the Crown, the Privy Council – together with the Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal, the Lord Mayor of the City of London and Court of Aldermen of the City of London as well as representatives of Commonwealth realms – makes a proclamation declaring the accession of the new Sovereign and receives an oath from the new Monarch relating to the security of the Church of Scotland, as required by law. It is also customary for the new Sovereign to make an allocution to the Privy Council on that occasion, and this Sovereign's Speech is formally published in ''The London Gazette''. Any such Special Assembly of the Privy Council, convened to proclaim the accession of a new Sovereign and witness the Monarch's statutory oath, is known as an Accession Council. The last such meeting was held on 10 September 2022 following the death of Elizabeth II and the accession of Charles III.

Term of office

Membership is conferred for life. Formerly, the death of a monarch ("demise of the Crown") brought an immediate dissolution of the council, as all Royal prerogative in the United Kingdom, Crown appointments automatically lapsed. By the 18th century, it was enacted that the council would not be dissolved until up to six months after the demise of the Crown. By convention, however, the sovereign would reappoint all members of the council after its dissolution. In practice, therefore, membership continued without a break. In 1901, the Law of the United Kingdom, law was changed to ensure that Crown appointments became wholly unaffected by any succession of monarch. The sovereign, however, may remove an individual from the Privy Council. Former MP Elliot Morley was expelled on 8 June 2011, following his conviction on charges of false accounting in connection with the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal, British parliamentary expenses scandal. Before this, the last individual to be expelled from the Council was Edgar Speyer, Sir Edgar Speyer, Bt., who was removed on 13 December 1921 for collaborating with the enemy German Empire, during the First World War. Individuals can choose to resign, sometimes to avoid expulsion. Three members voluntarily left the Privy Council in the 20th century: John Profumo, who resigned on 26 June 1963; John Stonehouse, who resigned on 17 August 1976 and Jonathan Aitken, who resigned on 25 June 1997 following allegations of perjury. So far, four Privy Counsellors have resigned in the 21st century, three in the same year. On 4 February 2013, Chris Huhne announced that he would voluntarily leave the Privy Council after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice. John Prescott, Lord Prescott stood down on 6 July 2013, in protest against delays in the introduction of press regulation, expecting others to follow. Denis MacShane resigned on 9 October 2013, before an Old Bailey hearing at which he pleaded guilty of false accounting and was subsequently imprisoned. In April 2022, former Prime Minister of Jamaica P. J. Patterson resigned to make the case for Republicanism in Jamaica, Jamaica to become a republic.

Rights and privileges

The Privy Council as a whole is termed "The Most Honourable" whilst its members individually, the Privy Counsellors, are entitled to be Style (manner of address), styled "The Right Honourable". Nonetheless, some nobles automatically have higher styles: Duke, non-royal dukes are styled "The Most Noble", and marquesses as "The Most Honourable". Modern custom as recommended by ''Debrett's'' is to use the post-nominal letters "PC" in a social style of address for peerage, peers who are Privy Counsellors. For commoners, "The Right Honourable" is sufficient identification of their status as a Privy Counsellor and they do not use the post-nominal letters "PC". The Ministry of Justice revises current practice of this convention from time to time. Each Privy Counsellor has the right of personal access to the sovereign. Peers were considered to enjoy this right individually; members of the House of Commons possess the right collectively. In each case, personal access may only be used to tender advice on public policy, public affairs.N. Cox, ''Peerage Privileges'', pp. 25–6. Only Privy Counsellors can signify Royal Consent to the examination of a Bill (law), Bill affecting the rights of the Crown. Members of the Privy Council are privileged to be given advance notice of any Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime ministerial decision to commit HM Armed Forces in Military operation, enemy action. Privy Counsellors have the right to sit on the steps of the Sovereign's Throne in the Chamber of the House of Lords during debates, a privilege which was shared with heirs apparent of those hereditary peerage, hereditary peers who were to become members of the

before Labour's partial House of Lords Act 1999, Reform of the Lords in 1999, diocesan bishops of the Church of England yet to be Lords Spiritual, retired bishops who formerly sat in the House of Lords, the Dean of Westminster, Peerage of Ireland, Peers of Ireland, the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, and the Black Rod, Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod. While Privy Counsellors have the right to sit on the steps of the Sovereign's Throne they do so only as observers and are not allowed to participate in any of the workings of the House of Lords. Nowadays this privilege is rarely exercised. A notable recent instance of the exercising of this privilege was used by the Prime Minister, Theresa May, and David Lidington, who watched the opening of the debate of the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill 2017 in the House of Lords. Privy Counsellors are accorded a formal rank of order of precedence in England and Wales, precedence, if not already having a higher one. At the beginning of each new Parliament, and at the discretion of the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker, those members of the House of Commons who are Privy Counsellors usually take the oath of allegiance before all other members except the Speaker and the Father of the House (United Kingdom), Father of the House (who is the member of the House who has the longest continuous service). Should a Privy Counsellor rise to speak in the House of Commons at the same time as another Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Honourable Member, the Speaker usually gives priority to the "Right Honourable" Member. This parliamentary custom, however, was discouraged under New Labour after 1998, despite the government not being supposed to exert influence over the Speaker.

Oath and initiation rite

Viviana examined by the Earl of Salisbury, and the Privy Council in the Star Chamber

The oath of the king's council (later the Privy Council) was first formulated in the early thirteenth century. This oath went through a series of revisions, but the modern form of the oath was essentially settled in 1571. It was regarded by some members of the Privy Council as criminal, and possibly treasonous, to disclose the oath administered to privy counsellors as they take office. However, the oath was officially made public by the First Blair ministry, Blair Government in a written parliamentary answer in 1998, as follows. It had also previously been read out in full in the House of Lords during debate by James Hope, 1st Baron Rankeillour, Lord Rankeillour on 21 December 1932, and has been openly printed in full in widely published books during the 19th and 20th centuries. Privy counsellors can choose to Affirmation in law, affirm their allegiance in similar terms, should they prefer not to take a religious oath. At the induction ceremony, the order of precedence places Anglicans (being those of the established church) before others. The initiation ceremony for newly appointed privy counsellors is held in private, and typically requires kneeling on a stool before the Sovereign and then kissing hands. According to ''The Royal Encyclopaedia'': "The new Privy Counsellor or Minister will extend his or her right hand, palm upwards, and, taking the Queen's hand lightly, will kiss it with no more than a touch of the lips." The ceremony has caused difficulties for Privy Counsellors who advocate Republicanism in the United Kingdom, republicanism; Tony Benn said in his diaries that he kissed his own thumb, rather than the Queen's hand, while Jeremy Corbyn reportedly did not kneel. Not all members of the Privy Council go through the initiation ceremony; appointments are frequently made by an Order in Council, although it is "rare for a party leader to use such a course."

Other councils

The Privy Council is one of the four principal councils of the sovereign. The other three are the History of the courts of England and Wales, courts of law, the ''Commune Concilium'' (Common Council, i.e. Parliament) and the ''Magnum Concilium'' (Great Council, i.e. the assembly of all the peers of the realm). All are still in existence, or at least have never been formally abolished, but the ''Magnum Concilium'' has not been summoned since 1640 and was considered defunct even then. Several other privy councils have advised the sovereign. England and Scotland once had separate privy councils (the

and Privy Council of Scotland). The Acts of Union 1707 united the two countries into the

and in 1708 the Parliament of Great Britain abolished the Privy Council of Scotland. Thereafter there was one Privy Council of Great Britain sitting in London. Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, on the other hand, continued to have a separate Privy Council even after the Act of Union 1800. The last appointments to the Privy Council of Ireland were made in 1922, when Irish Free State, the greater part of Ireland separated from the United Kingdom. It was succeeded by the Privy Council of Northern Ireland, which became dormant after the suspension of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1972. Canada has had its own Privy Council—the King's Privy Council for Canada—since 1867. While the Canadian Privy Council is specifically "for Canada", the Privy Council discussed above is not "for the United Kingdom"; to clarify the ambiguity where necessary, the latter was traditionally referred to as the Imperial Privy Council. Equivalent organs of state in other Commonwealth realms, such as Australia and New Zealand, are called Executive Council (Commonwealth countries), Executive Councils.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Privy Council Office homepage

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council homepage

BBC: Do we need the Privy Council?BBC Radio 4: Whats the point of the Privy Council?

BBC: Privy Council: Guide to its origins, powers and members
8 October 2015 *
Guardian Comment – Roy Hattersley on the Privy Council
{{authority control Privy Council of the United Kingdom, History of the Commonwealth of Nations 1708 establishments in Great Britain

History

Functions

Notable orders

Committees

Baronetage Committee

Committee for the Affairs of Jersey and Guernsey

Committee for the Purposes of the Crown Office Act 1877

Executive Committee

Judicial Committee

Scottish Universities Committee

Universities Committee

Other committees

Membership

Composition

Meetings

Term of office

Rights and privileges

Oath and initiation rite

Other councils

See also

References

Bibliography

External links