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The British Royal AssentHow a Bill Finally Becomes an Act of Parliament in Britain
After a Bill has passed through both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, it must be given the Royal Assent before becoming an Act of Parliament.
Although in Britain the role of the Monarch has largely become ceremonial, the Royal Assent is still a hugely important part of the law making process. Technically, when a Bill is presented to the Monarch, there are three formal options that could be taken. First, the Monarch may grant the Bill the Royal Assent so that is becomes an Act of Parliament. Secondly, the Monarch may withhold the Royal Assent and thereby veto the Bill. Thirdly, the Monarch may reserve the Royal Assent so that a decision on the Bill will be taken at a later date. However, in practice, it is incredibly unlikely in the modern, democratic political environment that the Monarch would refuse the Royal Assent to a Bill passed by both Houses of Parliament. The Process of the Royal AssentOnce a Bill has successfully passed through both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, it is sent to the Queen for the Royal Assent. Historically, the Monarch would have personally signed all the Bills. He or she would also have been required to go in person to the House of Lords and announce in Norman French whether the Bill was being passed (“Le Reyne le vault”) or rejected (Le Reyne s’avisera”). However, in practice, Queen Anne became the last Monarch to reject a Bill in 1707 while in 1854 Queen Victoria became the last Monarch to give the Royal Assent in person. Nowadays, there are two ways in which the Queen can give the Royal Assent. The most usual is the signing of the Letters Patent which allows the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Chancellor to announce to their respective Houses that the Queen has given her assent. The other way in which Royal Assent can be given occurs roughly once a year, usually at the end of the Parliamentary session. The Queen signs a Commission, a document that commands certain Lords to announce to both Houses that assent has been given. The ceremony for Royal Assent by Commission is not unlike that for the opening of Parliament since Black Rod, the Royal Messenger, goes to the House of Commons and commands that MPs go to the Lords to hear the announcement of the assent. Unless a Bill concerns a particularly urgent matter, it will most likely be kept waiting until there are several others Bills ready and then they will all be given their Royal Assent together. A Ceremonial RoleEven though she does not sign them all in person, the Queen always knows which Bills she is giving the Royal Assent to as she is given a complete list of the Bills involved before she signs the Letters Patent or the Commission. It is unlikely that the Queen would read the content of each of the Bills since she knows that both Houses of Parliament will have considered and debated the Bills very closely before passing them forward for Royal Assent. Although the Queen is kept thoroughly briefed on Government business by the Prime Minister, she does to need to know the minutia of the Bills since her role in the law making process is now really ceremonial. After the Royal AssentAfter receiving the Royal Assent, the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament. Although a Bill usually takes many months to complete the whole process, if it contains a matter of the utmost urgency then to could be passed within days if not hours. References: McLean, I. and McMillan, A. (2003) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (2nd Rev Ed.) (Oxford University Press) Jones, B. et al (2006) Politics UK (6th Ed.) (Longman) Kingdom, J. (2003) Government and Politics in Britain: An Introduction (3rd Ed.) (Polity Press)
The copyright of the article The British Royal Assent in British/UK Affairs is owned by Erin Britton. Permission to republish The British Royal Assent in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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