Privy Council of Great Britain

During the rule of the Norman monarchs , the so-called adviser of monarchical power royal court (royal court), consisting of tycoons, confessors and senior officials. This body provided advice on legislation, administration and justice. Various organs later developed with various other functions. For example, the Trial Chambers took up justice, and parliament became the supreme legislative council. However, the Privy Council remained the seat of the legislative debate, either in the first instance or on appeal. Moreover, the laws adopted by the monarch not at the suggestion of the Parliament, but with the filing of the Council, also had legislative force.

British monarchs often used this body to bypass ships and parliament. For example, one of the committees of the Council (which later became the Court of the Star Chamber ) had permission in the 14th century to impose any punishment (except the death penalty), without being embarrassed by the rules regarding evidence or evidence. During the reign of Henry VIII, the monarch could, on the recommendation of the Council, create the law simply by saying aloud. The legislative leadership of the Parliament was restored only after the death of Henry VIII.

Although the royal council retained legislative and judicial functions, it became mainly an administrative body. The Council was large - in 1553 more than 40 members - which made it difficult to act as an advisory body. Therefore, the monarch dealt with a smaller committee, which later evolved into a modern Cabinet of Ministers . Jacob I (King of England) and Charles I Stewart tried to rule as absolute monarchs, which contributed to a decrease in the powers of the Council.

During the English Civil War, Charles I was executed, and the monarchy with the House of Lords were abolished. The remaining house of parliament, the House of Commons, has established a Council of State to enforce the law and establish administrative procedures. Forty-one members of the Council were elected by the House of Commons; the body was headed by Oliver Cromwell , the de facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, Cromwell became Lord Protector , and the State Council was reduced to 13-21 members. In 1657, the House of Commons gave Cromwell even more power, some of which recalled the powers of the monarchs. The council became known as the Privy Council of the Lord Protector; its members were appointed Lord Protector with the approval of Parliament.

In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy , the council of the Lord Protector was abolished. Charles II restored the royal Privy Council, but, like the previous monarchs, began to rely on a smaller number of advisers. Under George I , who did not even speak English, this body received even greater power. Since then, the Council as a whole has ceased to be an important body, transferring this role to committees.

The monarch can appoint all privy councilors, but in practice he does this on the advice of the government. The Crown’s current heir and consort are invariably members of the Council, as are the three highest hierarchs of the Church of England — the Archbishop of Canterbury , the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London . Some of the most important judges are the Appeals Lords , the judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales , Judges of the Court of Appeal for Northern Ireland and the Sessional Court (the highest court in Scotland) are also members of the Council ex officio. The bulk of privy advisers, however, are politicians. The Prime Minister , cabinet ministers, some of the main ministers outside the cabinet, the opposition leader and heads of major parties in the House of Commons , as well as the First Minister of Scotland and members of her cabinet, have the status of privy councilors.

Although the Privy Council is a UK government agency, officials from other Commonwealth kingdoms also have membership in it. The most noteworthy example is New Zealand , where the Prime Minister, major politicians, judges of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal are also members of the Privy Council.

Due to the fact that the oath of joining the Privy Council includes an obligation to keep the contents of its meetings secret, the UK government gets the opportunity to discuss classified information with opposition leaders, leading parliamentary parties and Commonwealth countries. This opportunity, as a rule, is used in exceptional circumstances, for example, to discuss national security issues.

There are no restrictions on the number of board members; in January 2012 there were about 600 people ^[1] , and by June 2015 their number had increased to 650 ^[2] . However, not all members of the Privy Council are invited to all meetings; usually the list of participants of each of them is determined by the prime minister.

Membership lasts until the dissolution of the Privy Council, which automatically occurs six months after the death of the monarch (before the reign of Queen Anne, the death of the monarch automatically meant the dissolution of the Council). According to custom , however, the monarch reappoints all members of the Council after dissolution; so in practice membership is lifelong. As of 2019, Prince Philip , the only one appointed by the father of the ruling queen, has the longest membership in the Privy Council.

Privy Counselors are entitled to the title “Very Honorable” ( English The Right Honorable ) ^[3] .

A monarch may remove a person from the council, and individuals may resign to avoid exclusion. The last dignitary to voluntarily leave the Council was Jonathan Aitken , who left in 1997 after accusations of oath- crime. He was one of three in the 20th century (the other two were John Profumo in 1963 and John Stonehouse in 1976 ^[4] ). The last expelled from the Council was Sir Edgar Speyer, 1st Baronet in 1921 for pro-German activities during the First World War .

The Privy Counselors, upon appointment, pronounce the following oath:

Swear by the almighty God to be a true and faithful Servant for Her Majesty the Queen as one of Her Majesty the Privy Council. You will not know and understand any kind of thing, attempting, committing or uttering, against the Person of Her Majesty, Honor, Crown or Royal Dignity, but you will nip and oppose the same things as your power is enough, and either force her to be revealed by Her Majesty, or that of Her Privy Council, whom she will appoint. You will be completely in everything that happens, is discussed and stipulated in the Council, to correctly and truthfully disclose your Mind and Opinion, in accordance with your Heart and Consciousness; and you will keep secret all deeds committed and entrusted to you, or those in the Council that must be kept secret.

And if any of the specified Arrangements or Councils affects any of the Advisers, you will not open it to him, but you will remain silent until the moment, with the consent of Her Majesty or the Council, of the Publication. You will until the last carry Faith and Loyalty to Royal Majesty; and you will help and protect all Jurisdictions, Rule of Law, and Powers given to Her Majesty and annexed to the Crown by Acts of Parliament, or otherwise, from all Foreign Princes, Persons, Prelates, States or Forces. And in all matters, in general, you will be faithful and true Servants, due to Her Majesty. God help you.

Privy Council meetings usually occur monthly, when the monarch may be present. The monarch comes to a meeting, but his place can be taken by two or more State Advisers. According to the Regency Act of 1937, the State Councilor can be selected from the spouse of the monarch and four persons (over 21 years old) following the line of inheritance.

At meetings of the Privy Council, the Lord Chairperson reads out the list of planned orders, and the monarch simply says: “Approved.” Only a few Crown ministers come to these meetings, which rarely last long.

Full meetings of the Privy Council occur only when the monarch announces his marriage or when the monarch dies. In the latter case, the Privy Council, together with the spiritual lords , secular lords , as well as the Lord Mayor of London , the Alderman of the City of London and representatives of the Commonwealth, announces the assumption of the new monarch.

The monarch exercises executive power by issuing Decrees-in-Council on the recommendation of the Privy Council. Decrees-in-Council are written in draft form by the Cabinet and are used for simple government decisions. They are also used to obtain royal sanction for laws that have passed through the legislative bodies of dependent territories . Cabinet appointments are also made by Decrees-in-Council.

Unlike Decrees-in-Council There are still Decrees of the Council issued by members of the Privy Council without the participation of the Sovereign. Such decrees are issued by separate permission of acts of parliament and are usually used to manage public institutions.

The monarch publishes royal charters on the recommendation of the Privy Council. Charters give special status to affiliated bodies; for example, they give the towns the status of a city ( city ) and an urban village ( Borough ).

The Privy Council collects documents for examination by the monarch - these papers are brought to the palace in red boxes every day at 7 o’clock in the evening, after which the monarch looks through them, emphasizing in red that he did not like or do not understand, and already at 8 o’clock the next day these documents are taken away ^[5] .

The Judicial Committee consists of judges of the Supreme Court and the highest courts of appeal, who are Privy Councilors. The decision of the Committee is presented in the form of “advice” to the monarch, but in practice it is always accompanied by the monarch (as Crown-in-Council), who formally endorses the recommendation of the Committee of Judges.

In the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom, the Judicial Committee hears appeals from church courts , the Admiralty Court at Five Ports , prize courts and the Disciplinary Commission of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, appeals to church commissioners and appeals to certain acts of Parliament, such as the House of Commons Disqualification Act (1975 ) The Judicial Committee also hears appeals from the Commonwealth Kingdom, British Overseas Territories , Sovereign Base Territories , and Dependent Territories . The Crown-in-Council was previously the highest court of appeal for the entire British Empire, but now the right of such an appeal has been abolished in many Commonwealth countries. The Judicial Committee has direct jurisdiction in cases related to the Acts - Act of Scotland 1998 , Act of the Board of Wales (1998) and Act of Northern Ireland (1998) , but in 2009 this prerogative was delegated to the Supreme Court of Great Britain .

The Privy Council is one of the four main tips of the Sovereign. Rest:

• judicial council ( English courts of law );
• Zemsky Council (Parliament);
• great council (meeting of all peers of the Kingdom).

These councils still exist, but the great council did not meet since 1640.

The monarch is also advised by several other secret councils. England and Scotland had different Privy Councils, but under the Unification Act of 1707 they were united. Ireland had a separate Privy Council after the 1800 Unification Act , but it was abolished in 1922 when Southern Ireland separated from the United Kingdom; its successor was the Privy Council of Northern Ireland , which also ceased operations after the suspension of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1972.

Canada has had its Privy Council — the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada — since 1867. An equivalent body in some Kingdom and Commonwealth Republics is called the Executive Council .

• Charles Camden
• Spencer George

• Privy Council Office homepage (англ.)
• BBC: Do we need the Privy Council? ; BBC Radio 4: Whats the point of the Privy Council? (англ.)
• BBC: Privy Council: Guide to its origins, powers and members , 8 October 2015 (англ.)