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In Commonwealth realms other than the UK, Royal Assent is granted or withheld by the governor-general, the representative of the sovereign. In realms with federal systems, assent is granted or withheld by the representatives of the sovereign in each state, province, or territory; in Australia, this is the governor (of a state) or administrator (of the Northern Territory); in Canada, this is the lieutenant governor (of a province). A governor of a state or lieutenant governor of a province may defer assent to the governor-general, who may in turn defer it to the sovereign. In some cases, when a royal tour of a Commonwealth realm is pending, assent may be reserved so that the sovereign may grant it in person. If the governor general is unable to give assent, it can be done by either the Deputy of the Governor General of Canada—the Chief Justice of Canada—or another justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. At both state and federal realms in Australia, assent is used as the means of enforcing a referendum that is required. This is done by providing that it will not be lawful to even submit the law for viceregal assent unless and until it has been approved by the required percentage of the voting populace at a referendum. In New Zealand, section 16 of the Constitution Act 1986 states that "a Bill passed by the House of Representatives shall become law when the Sovereign or the Governor-General assents to it and signs it in token of such assent." This act also states in section 3 that Royal Assent can be given by the sovereign in person or by the governor-general on behalf of the sovereign.[35] Historical changes While the Royal Assent has not been withheld in the United Kingdom since 1708, it has often been withheld in British colonies and former colonies by governors acting on royal instructions. In the United States Declaration of Independence, colonists complained that George III "has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good [and] has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them."[36] Even after colonies such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, and Newfoundland were granted responsible government, the British government continued to advise governors-general on the granting of assent. Assent was sometimes reserved in order to allow the British government to examine a bill before advising the governor-general. Since the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westminster 1931, governors-general have acted solely on the advice of the local ministers, rather than on that of the British government. As in the United Kingdom, the ministers generally maintain the support of the legislature and are the ones who secure the passage of bills; therefore, they are unlikely to advise the sovereign's representative to withhold assent. The power to withhold the Royal Assent was notably exercised by Alberta's lieutenant governor, John C. Bowen, in 1937, in respect of three bills passed under William Aberhart's Social Credit government. Two bills sought to put banks under the authority of the province, thereby interfering with the federal government's powers. The third, the Accurate News and Information Bill, purported to force newspapers to print government rebuttals to stories to which the provincial cabinet objected. The unconstitutionality of all three bills was later confirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada and by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.[37] In Australia, a technical issue arose with the Royal Assent in both 1976 and 2001. In 1976, a bill originating in the House of Representatives was mistakenly submitted to the Governor-General and assented to. However, it was later discovered that it had not been passed by each house. The error arose because two bills of the same title had originated from the House. The Governor-General revoked the first assent, before assenting to the bill which had actually passed. The same procedure was followed to correct a similar error which arose in 2001.[38] Ceremonies In Commonwealth realms, assent may be granted by the sovereign in person, by the governor-general in person, or by a deputy acting for the governor-general. In all of the realms, however, assent is more often granted or signified outside the legislature, with each house being notified separately. In Australia, the formal ceremony of granting Assent in parliament has not been regularly used since the early 20th century. Now, the bill is sent to the governor-general's residence by the house in which it originated. The governor-general then signs the bill, sending messages to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who notify their respective houses of the governor-general's action.[39] A similar practice is followed in New Zealand, where the governor-general has not personally granted the Royal Assent in parliament since 1875.[39] In Canada, the traditional ceremony for granting assent in parliament was regularly used until the 21st century, long after it had been discontinued in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. One result, conceived as part of a string of royal duties intended to demonstrate Canada's status as an independent kingdom, was that King George VI personally assented to nine bills of the Canadian parliament during the 1939 royal tour of Canada—85 years after his great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, had last granted Royal Assent personally in the United Kingdom. Under the Royal Assent Act 2002, however, the alternative practice of granting assent in writing, with each house being notified separately, was brought into force. As the act also provides, Royal Assent is to be signified—by the governor general, or, more often, by a deputy, usually a Justice of the Supreme Court[19]—in the Senate (as the sovereign is traditionally barred from the House of Commons.[40]) at least twice each calendar year: for the first appropriation measure and for at least one other act, usually the first non-appropriation measure passed. However, the act provides that a grant of Royal Assent is not rendered invalid by a failure to employ the traditional ceremony where required. British Crown dependencies Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey The lieutenant governors of the bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey do not grant Royal Assent. The States of Jersey Law 2005 abolished any power of the lieutenant governor to veto a resolution of the states.[41] Instead, the monarch directly grants Royal Assent by Order in Council.[42] Assent is granted or refused on the advice of the Lord Chancellor. A recent example when assent was refused (or, more correctly, when the Lord Chancellor declined to present the law for assent) was in 2007, concerning reforms to the constitution of the Chief Pleas of Sark.[43] (A revised version of the proposed reforms was subsequently given assent.[44]) In 2011, campaigners against a law that sought to reduce the number of senators in the states of Jersey petitioned the Privy Council to advise the Queen to refuse Royal Assent.[45] An Order in Council of 13 July 2011 established new rules for the consideration of petitions against granting Royal Assent.[46] Laws require Royal Assent; other legislation such as ordinances (in Guernsey) and regulations and orders (in Jersey) do not require Royal Assent. Isle of Man Special procedures apply to legislation passed by Tynwald, the legislature of the Isle of Man. Before the lordship of the Island was purchased by the British Crown in 1765 (the Revestment), the assent of the Lord of Mann to a bill was signified by letter to the governor.[47] After 1765, Royal Assent was at first signified by letter from the Secretary of State to the governor;[48] but, during the British Regency, the practice began of granting Royal Assent by Order in Council,[49] which continues to this day, though limited to exceptional cases since 1981. In 1981, an Order in Council delegated to the lieutenant governor the power to grant Royal Assent to bills passed by Tynwald.[50] The lieutenant governor must refer any bill to the then Lord Chancellor's Department (now Ministry of Justice) for advice, on which he is required to act, and certain types of bill are reserved to the monarch, in which case the former procedure is followed. Royal Assent is not sufficient to give legal effect to an Act of Tynwald. By ancient custom, an act did not come into force until it had been promulgated at an open-air sitting of Tynwald, usually held on Tynwald Hill at St John's on St John's Day (24 June), but, since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1753,[51] on 5 July (or on the following Monday[52] if 5 July is a Saturday or Sunday). Promulgation originally consisted of the reading of the Act in English and Manx; but, after 1865 the reading of the title of the act and a summary of each section were sufficient.[53] This was reduced in 1895 to the titles and a memorandum of the object and purport of the act,[54] and, since 1988, only the short title and a summary of the long title have been read.[55] An emergency procedure enabling an act to come into force on Royal Assent being announced at an ordinary sitting of Tynwald, subject to its being promulgated within 12 months, was introduced in 1916;[56] since 1988, this has been the normal procedure and an act ceases to have effect unless promulgated within 18 months after Royal Assent is announced in Tynwald.[57] Since 1993, the Sodor and Man Diocesan Synod has had power to enact measures making provision "with respect to any matter concerning the Church of England in the Island". If approved by Tynwald, a measure "shall have the force and effect of an Act of Tynwald upon the Royal Assent thereto being announced to Tynwald".[58] Between 1979 and 1993, the Synod had similar powers, but limited to the extension to the Isle of Man of measures of the General Synod.[59] Before 1994, Royal Assent was granted by Order in Council, as for a bill, but the power to grant Royal Assent to measures has now been delegated to the lieutenant governor.[60] A Measure does not require promulgation.[61] |
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