The Queen-in-Parliament (or, during the reign of a male monarch, King-in-Parliament), sometimes referred to as the Crown-in-Parliament or, more fully, as the King in Parliament under God,[1][2][3] is a technical term of constitutional law in the Commonwealth realms that refers to the Crown in its legislative role, acting with the advice and consent of the lower house and upper house in the case of a bicameral parliament, or the legislature in the case of a unicameral parliament. Bills passed by the houses are sent to the sovereign, or Governor-General, Lieutenant-Governor, or Governor as her representative, for Royal Assent, which, once granted, makes the bill into law; these primary acts of legislation are known as acts of parliament. An act may also provide for secondary legislation, which can be made by the Crown, subject to the simple approval, or the lack of disapproval, of parliament.
The concept of the Crown as a part of parliament is related to the idea of the fusion of powers, meaning that the executive branch and legislative branch of government are fused together. This is a key concept of the Westminster system of government, developed in England and used across the Commonwealth and beyond. It is in contradistinction to the separation of powers typical of presidential systems such as that of the United States or France, where the President is in no way a part of the Congress. The specific language of "the Crown" "the King" or "the Queen" in parliament used in the Commonwealth realms of also alludes to the constitutional theory that ultimate authority or sovereignty rests with the monarch but is delegated to elected officials. This contrasts with the concept of popular sovereignty used in most republics, even those influenced by the Westminster model, such as India or Nigeria. In federal realms of the Commonwealth, the concept of the Crown-in-the-Legislature only applies to those units which are considered separate divisions of the monarchy, sovereign within their own sphere, such Australian states or the Canadian provinces. This is the basis of the legal distinction between a province and a territory in Canada, for example. The legislature of territory does not receive its authority directly from the monarch, but it is delegated by the federal parliament. Similarly, with city councils and other local governments in the Commonwealth, the idea of the Crown-in-the-Council is not used, as the authority of local governments is derived from a charter or act that can be unilaterally amended by a higher level of government.
Because of the sovereign's place in the enactment of laws, the enacting clause of acts of parliament may mention him or her, as well as the other one or two bodies of parliament. For example, modern Canadian acts of parliament typically contain the following enacting clause: NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows... Similarly, British Acts of the Parliament will start with: BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows... The phrasing, however, is different when the bill is passed under the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, without the consent of the Lords. Because the Queen remains a part of parliament, the enacting clause does not need to explicitly mention her as in realms such as Australia and Tuvalu, where the clause is simply The Parliament of Australia enacts and ENACTED by the Parliament of Tuvalu..., respectively. This may represent a distinction between whether Parliament or the Queen is the primary legislator, however.[4]
The Scottish parliament follows a different approach: although its acts require Royal Assent, the concept of Queen-in-Parliament has not been incorporated. Instead of the enacting clause seen in UK acts, acts of the Scottish parliament bear the following text above the long title: The Bill for this Act of the Scottish Parliament was passed by the Parliament on DATE and received Royal Assent on DATE.
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