Prerogative Powers

Until Brexit, the prerogative had seldom been the subject of much political attention. The Brexit process shone a spotlight on obscure powers which suddenly became the talk of parliamentarians and newspaper leader writers. Some of the most heated political debates and controversies of the last few years have involved different aspects of the prerogative. These included fierce debates over whether Article 50 could be triggered without an Act of Parliament, speculation that the Queen might be advised to withhold royal assent from legislation passed against the government’s wishes, Boris Johnson’s attempt to prorogue Parliament and repeated votes find a way round the Fixed-term Parliaments Act to hold a general election.

These events raised fundamental questions about the balance of power between Parliament and the executive; and the role of the courts. The underlying issue with all prerogative powers is how much autonomy the executive should have to wield that power; with what degree of supervision from parliament or the courts; or (more rarely) from the monarch. The prerogative has become gradually more regulated over the past 30-40 years and the overall trend has been to make the prerogative more transparent, more accountable, and to reduce the breadth of executive discretion.

Professor Robert Hazell was part of a research project comparing how the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are seeking to regulate prerogative powers. The research team hosted its first workshop on prerogative power reform on 11 October 2019 at the Lord Elgin Hotel in Ottawa, Canada, where Professor Hazell presented a paper and slides. There were also presentations on avenues for comparative research and the royal prerogative in Canada.

The main outputs from this project were a book and a report. Timothy Foot also wrote a note on the creation of peers and Professor Hazell appeared on UCL Uncovering Politics to discuss the prerogative powers of governments in 2021.

Outputs

Professor Hazell's main output from this project was a book, published in 2022 with Timothy Foot. Executive Power: The Prerogative, Past, Present and Future has since been made open access. The book provides a comprehensive guide to the operation of prerogative powers – past, present and future – and proposals for reform. It covers the full range of prerogative powers, including the power to conduct diplomacy and foreign relations, the power to grant peerages and honours, as well as pardons.

The project also resulted in a report by Professor Hazell and Charlotte Carter-Sayers, Reforming the Prerogative, also published in 2022. The report provides a comprehensive guide to the operation of five prerogative powers: the dissolution and proroguing of parliament, going to war, ratifying treaties, public appointments and passports. It illustrates the scope for reform through codification in statute, soft law or through clearer and stronger conventions. 

Project information

This project was led by Professor Philippe Lagassé, with an interdisciplinary research team of political scientists and legal scholars including Professor Robert Hazell. It was funded by the SSHRC and ran between 2019 and 2024.