A proclamation is a form of legislation made by the Monarch and the Privy Council instead of Parliament. Proclamations can dissolve Parliament, create bank holidays or issue new coins.
This Insight explains what a proclamation is and how they are used.
What is a proclamation?
A proclamation is a form of legislation which is made by the King either under statute (an act of Parliament) or under the royal prerogative (an act acknowledged as being within the Monarch’s executive powers). Both statutory and prerogative proclamations are made on ministerial advice.
Proclamations do not involve Parliament but rather the Privy Council, which is a body of advisers to the King and meets roughly every month. This means they can be made at short notice.
The drafting of proclamations is the responsibility of the relevant government department. Once drafted, proclamations are sent to the Privy Council Office (PCO; PDF), where they are checked for terminology. On receipt of the final version, the PCO prepares the proclamation for the King’s signature, arranges for the appropriate Gazette notice (the Gazette is the UK’s official public record) and enters it on to the list of business for a meeting of the Privy Council.
Once signed, a prerogative Order in Council directs the Lord Chancellor to “seal” the proclamation with the Great Seal of the Realm. This brings it into effect. The wafer seal is generally used for proclamations. Under section 3 of the Crown Office Act 1877, a proclamation is “valid in law” if published in the London, Edinburgh or Belfast Gazettes, which are official records of “state” business.
Although it is no longer necessary for proclamations to be displayed in poster form in towns and cities across the UK (as it was until 1975), if the Lord President of the Council (a member of the Cabinet, currently Lucy Powell MP) thinks it “expedient”, then they may direct:
that copies of such proclamations shall in addition be sent to such High Sheriffs, Sheriffs, Lord Mayors and Mayors in England and Wales and to such Sheriffs Principal in Scotland as he [sic] thinks fit, [and] the contents of such proclamations shall thereupon be made known in the manner accustomed.
History of proclamations
Historically, English and Scottish monarchs legislated widely via proclamation, although the parliaments of England and Scotland often tried to limit this activity.
The Statute of Proclamations 1539 provided that proclamations made by the King with the assent of the Privy Council should have the force of statute law if they were not prejudicial to “any person’s inheritance, offices, liberties, goods, chattels or life”.
Although this enactment was later repealed, the Case of Proclamations [1610] held that the King could not “change any part of the common law, nor create any offence, by his proclamation, which was not an offence before, without parliament”. King James VI/I had attempted, via proclamation, to prohibit the erection of new buildings in London.
In Grieve v Edinburgh Water Trustees [1918] Scotland’s Lord Justice Clerk stated that “royal proclamations have in no sense the force of law” but rather draw attention to existing law or the performance of some executive function of the Crown.
Until 2004, a state of emergency could be proclaimed under the Emergency Powers Act 1964. Twelve such proclamations were made between 1920 and 1974, all in relation to industrial action.
What are proclamations used for?
Today, a proclamation can:
- Dissolve and summon Parliament. The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 revived the practice of doing so via a prerogative dissolution proclamation.
- Prorogue Parliament for further periods (Prorogation Act 1867, section 1), and, while prorogued, summon Parliament (Meeting of Parliament Act 1797, section 1, and Meeting of Parliament Act 1870, section 2).
- Recall Parliament in certain circumstances (Reserve Forces Act 1996, section 68, and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, section 28).
- Move an election date by up to seven days either side of a default 14-day postponement if the Monarch dies between the dissolution of Parliament and the polling day for the next general election (Representation of the People Act 1985, section 20).
- Create a new – or alter the date of an existing – bank holiday (PDF) (Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, section 1).
- Determine “the denomination, the design and dimensions of coins” to be made at the Royal Mint (Coinage Act 1971, section 3).
- Adopt “such style and titles” as the Monarch “may think fit” (Royal Titles Act 1953, section 1).
- Facilitate an “extraordinary” (early or additional) devolved election in Scotland or Wales under, respectively, the Scottish Seal and the Welsh Seal (Scotland Act 1998, section 3 and the Government of Wales Act, section 5).
Accession Proclamation
The Accession Proclamation for a new Monarch is prerogative but unusual in that it is not made by the King but by members of the Privy Council. This proclamation is signed by those present at an Accession Council and then read by Garter King of Arms from the balcony above Friary Court at St James’s Palace. The same proclamation is then read out, as directed by Orders of Council, at various locations around the UK and in the Crown Dependencies.
Further reading
The royal prerogative and ministerial advice
The Privy Council: history, functions and membership
About the author: Dr David Torrance is a researcher at the House of Commons Library, specialising in monarchy and the constitution.
Image by: Peter S via Wikimedia Commons
