Prerogative Powers in The Context of The UK Constitution Essay

Prerogative Powers in The Context of The UK Constitution - Essay Example The British constitution (comprising of a set of guiding principles and laws) is derived from a large number of sources that include: Royal prerogative powers Conventions Statute EU Treaties Common law Authoritative statements made in print, as in law books. Royal prerogative laws existed prior to the current form of the UK parliament. Officially, the right to exercise prerogative laws are retained by the Queen. However, in actual practice Ministers of the Crown, which comprise of the British Cabinet, exercise majority of these laws. The powers, as vested by the royal prerogative laws, are termed as Royal prerogative powers. On the other hand, statutes are laws that are passed by the UK Parliament; hence, they refer to laws  that are considered as the highest form of law for all governmental activities. This essay briefly examines differences that exist between Royal prerogative powers and statutory powers, while analysing and deriving that prerogative powers in their current form are not compatible as regards executive accountability, and needs modification to ensure better governance. Discussion Prerogative powers and statutory powers: The  royal prerogative  is a set of established privileges, immunities and authority, acknowledged in the  UK  as the sole right of the Sovereign. A majority of the  executive  powers, vested in the queen and exercised by the UK cabinet, have been accorded under the royal prerogative laws. Historically during middle ages in the UK, the king used royal prerogative powers to enforce his will during the process of decision-making, which purportedly aimed at public good. However, from 19th century, various reforms took place and by convention, it became compulsory to take into account the  advice given by Ministers of the Crown or the Prime Minister, who in turn are accountable to the UK Parliament for their decision while exercising prerogative powers.2 Under the constitution, the queen retains his or her powers to exercise Royal Prerogative laws against the advice of the UK Cabinet or the Prime Minister, however in actual practice the queen can only act as such during emergencies or where there are no precedent cases that can be applied suitably to that specific situation. Currently, the royal prerogative laws encompass various areas that are significant and critical to the United Kingdom, including country’s security, defence, and foreign affairs. While the queen’s name is officially present in all the aforementioned areas, in reality she exercises very little power, because currently royal prerogative power is vested mainly in the hands of the Cabinet ministers and the prime minister. While delineating prerogative powers, there have been difficulties in giving it a clear definition. As the Select Committee on Public Administration  Fourth Report  framed it in their review, â€Å"The royal prerogative itself is a notoriously difficult concept to define adequately.