A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and letters of appointment, as they have perpetual effect. Typically, a royal charter is produced as a high-quality work of calligraphy.
Charters have been used in Europe since mediæval times to create cities (i.e., localities with recognised legal rights and privileges). The date that such a charter was granted is considered to be when a city was "founded", regardless of when the locality originally began to be settled.
At one time a royal charter was the only way in which an incorporated body could be formed, but other means (such as the registration process for limited companies) are generally now used instead.
Among the past and present groups formed by royal charter are the British East India Company, the Hudson's Bay Company, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), the British South Africa Company, and some of the former British colonies on the North American mainland.
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The royal decree is the equivalent in Belgium of a Royal Charter. In the period before 1958, 32 higher education institutes had been by royal charter: these were typically engineering or technical institutions rather than universities.[3]
However, several non-technical higher education institutions have been founded, or refounded, under royal decree:
Since the Belgian state reform of 1988-1989, competency over education was transferred to the federated entities of Belgium. Royal decrees can therefore no longer grant higher education institution status or university status.[6]
A Royal Charter is granted by Order in Council, either creating an incorporated body, or giving an existent one special status.[7] This is an exercise of the Royal Prerogative, and, in Canada, there are hundreds of organizations under Royal Charters. Such organizations include charities, businesses, colleges, universities, and cities. Today, it is mostly charities and professional institutions who receive Royal Charters.
Application for a charter is a petition to the Queen-in-Council. To receive a Royal Charter, the organization must have corporate members who have at least first degree level in a relevant field, consist of 5,000 members or more, be financially sound, and it must be in the public interest to regulate the institution under a charter. However, meeting these benchmarks does not guarantee the issuance of a Royal Charter.[8]
Companies, corporations, and societies in Canada founded under or augmented by a Royal Charter include:
Cities under Royal Charter are not subject to municipal Acts of parliament applied generally to other municipalities, and instead are governed by legislation applicable to each city individually. The Royal Charter codifies the laws applied to the particular city, and lays out the powers and responsibilities not given to other municipalities in the province concerned.
A number of Canadian universities and colleges were founded under Royal Charter.
Between 1842-1997, a number of organizations had received Royal Charter:
The Institution of Engineers (India) was incorporated by royal charter in 1935.[30]
A number of Irish institutions still have a "Royal" prefix, even though the country has been a republic since 1949.
A more detailed list of current Irish institutions with Royal patronage is available here
A list of former Royal institutions with ties to Ireland, but they were mostly British institutions created in Ireland during British rule:
The University of South Africa received a Royal Charter in 1877.
Among the 750 or so organisations with Royal Charters are cities; the Bank of England; the BBC; theatres such as the Royal Opera House and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane; Livery Companies; universities (mostly those founded before 1993); professional institutions, such as the Institution of Royal Engineers and charities.[31]
A Royal Charter is the manner in which a British town is raised to the rank of city. Most recently Inverness, Brighton & Hove and Wolverhampton were given their charters to celebrate the millennium, and Preston, Stirling, Newport, Lisburn and Newry to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2002.
Most British universities operate under Royal Charters, which give them the power to grant degrees. The most recent generation of UK universities were granted the power to grant degrees by the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 instead of by Royal Charter, while some other universities operate under Acts of Parliament. The University of Buckingham and Malvern College are the only private education institutions that have received a royal charter.[32]
The BBC operates under a Royal Charter which lasts for a limited period of ten years, after which it is renewed.
Most Royal Charters are now granted to professional institutions and to charities such as The Royal Photographic Society. For example, the six accountancy institutes which make up the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies each have a Royal Charter which allows their members to call themselves Chartered Accountants. A Charter is not necessary for them to operate, but one is often sought as a recognition of "pre-eminence, stability and permanence".
A Royal Charter changes a body from a collection of individuals into a single legal entity. Once incorporated by Royal Charter, amendments to the Charter and by-laws require government approval.[31]
Although several American universities which predate the American Revolution purport to hold royal charters, in a number of cases they were in fact created by a grant from a local authority such as a colonial legislature.
Colleges created by royal charter from King William III and Queen Mary II of England:
Colleges created by King George II of Great Britain:
American colleges popularly believed to have been established by Royal Charter, but actually by some other type of grant:
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