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The granting of the Royal Assent is sometimes associated with elaborate ceremonies. In the United Kingdom, the Sovereign may appoint Lords Commissioners , who announce that Royal Assent has been granted at a ceremony held at the Palace Of Westminster , Buckingham Palace , or another royal residence. However Royal Assent is usually granted less ceremonially by Letters Patent . In other nations, including Australia and Canada, the Governor-General merely signs the bill. In each case, the Parliament must be apprised of the granting of Assent. Two methods are available: the Lords Commissioners or the Sovereign's representatives may grant Assent in the presence of both Houses of Parliament; alternatively, each House may be notified separately, usually by the Speaker of that house. UNITED KINGDOM In the United Kingdom the Royal Assent is a Constitutional Convention whereby assent to legislation is granted by the Sovereign . Once a bill is presented to the Sovereign or the Sovereign's representative, he or she has three formal options. Firstly, the Sovereign may ''grant'' the Royal Assent, thereby making the bill an Act of Parliament. Secondly, the Sovereign may ''withhold'' the Royal Assent, thereby vetoing the bill. Finally, the Sovereign may ''reserve'' the Royal Assent, that is to say, defer a decision on the bill until a later time.Bennion, Francis. "Modern Royal Assent Procedure at Westminister". Statute Law Rev, 2 (3). pp. 133–147 Under modern constitutional conventions, the Sovereign acts on the advice of his or her ministers.Durkin, Mary, Gay, Oonagh. " The Royal Prerogative " (PDF). Parliament and Constitution Centre, 21 December , 2005 . Retrieved on 18 April , 2007 . Since these ministers most often maintain the support of Parliament and are the ones who obtain the passage of bills, it is highly improbable that they would advise the Sovereign to withhold Assent. An exception is sometimes stated to be if bills are not passed in "good faith", though it has been difficult to make an interpretation on what this might constitute. Hence, in modern practice, the Royal Assent is always granted; a refusal to do so would only be appropriate in an emergency situation requiring the use of the monarch's reserve powers. Historical development Originally, legislative power was held by the Sovereign, acting on the advice of the '', 2007 . The Parliament Act gives a second potential preamble if the House of Lords is excluded from the process. The power of Parliament to pass bills was often thwarted by monarchs. , 2007 . The last Stuart monarch, Anne , similarly withheld, on the advice of her ministers, her Assent from a bill " For The Settling Of Militia In Scotland " on March 11 , 1708 , but no monarch since has withheld the Royal Assent on a bill passed by the British Parliament.Smith, David L. "Change & Continuity in 17th Century English Parliaments". ''History Review'', 2002. p. 1. During the rule of the succeeding , 2007 . an attempt to abolish the religious restrictions which prevented Roman Catholics from serving in certain public posts. Both asserted that to grant Assent to a Catholic Emancipation bill would violate the Coronation Oath , which required the Sovereign to preserve the established Church Of England . George IV, however, reluctantly granted his Assent upon the advice of his ministers. Thus, as the concept of ministerial responsibility has evolved, the power to withhold the Royal Assent has fallen into disuse, both in the United Kingdom and in the Commonwealth Realms. There is a situation, however, in which a more direct monarchical assent is required for a bill. This is not Royal Assent, but is termed "Queen's Consent". In order for a bill affecting, directly or by implication, the Prerogative , hereditary revenues —including Ultimus Haeres , Treasure Trove , and Bona Vacantia — or the personal property or interests of the Crown to be heard in Parliament, the monarch must first consent to its hearing. On rare occasions, such as for the House Of Lords Act 1999 , the consent of the Prince Of Wales , as Prince and Steward of Scotland, or as Duke Of Cornwall , must also be obtained where a Bill affects his interests. This is known as Prince's Consent. In 1999, Queen Elizabeth II, acting on the advice of the government, refused to signify her consent to the , 1999 . Retrieved on 12 April , 2007 . Due to the Crown 's refusal to consent to the bill's hearing, it was automatically dropped. However, because the Bill had been introduced under the Ten Minute Rule , it never stood any chance of being fully debated by Parliament, and it does not represent a test of what may happen if a future government introduced other legislation affecting the reserve powers of the Crown. Royal Assent is the final stage in the legislative process for Acts of the , 2007 . Notice is published in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes. Ceremony In the United Kingdom, a bill is presented for Royal Assent after it has been passed by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Alternatively, under the Parliament Act s of 1911 and 1949, the House of Commons may, under certain circumstances, direct that a bill be presented for Assent despite non-passage in the House of Lords. In either case, the Sovereign does not actually analyze the bill and make a decision on whether or not to grant Assent. In practice, the granting of Assent is purely ceremonial. Officially, Assent is granted by the Sovereign or by Lords Commissioners authorised to act by Letters Patent . It may be granted in Parliament or outside Parliament; in the latter case, each House must be separately notified before the bill takes effect. The Clerk of the Parliaments, an official of the House of Lords, traditionally states an , 2007 . translated as "The Queen thanks her good subjects, accepts their benevolence, and wills it so." For other public or private bills, the formula is simply ''La Reyne le veult'' (the Queen wills it). For personal bills, the phrase was ''Soit fait comme il est désiré'' (so be it as it is desired). The appropriate formula for withholding Assent is the euphemistic ''La Reyne s'avisera'' (the Queen will consider it). When the Sovereign is male, ''Le Roy'' is substituted for ''La Reyne''. The spelling of the words in the formulæ has varied over the years; for example, in former times, ''s'uvisera'' and ''s'advisera'' were used instead of ''s'avisera'', and ''Raine'' was used instead of ''Reyne''. Formerly, the Sovereign always granted his or her Assent in person. The Sovereign, wearing the , 2007 . A new device for granting Assent was created during the reign of , 2007 . When granting Assent by Commission, the Sovereign authorises three or more (normally five) Lords who are , 2007 . During the 1960s, the ceremony of assenting by Commission was discontinued. In 1960, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod arrived to summon the House of Commons during a heated debate, and several members protested against the disruption by refusing to attend the ceremony. The debacle was repeated in 1965; this time, when the Speaker left the chair to go to the House of Lords, some members continued to make speeches. As a result, the Royal Assent Act 1967 was passed, creating an additional form for the granting of the Royal Assent. Thus, the granting of Assent by the monarch in person, or Commission is still possible, but this third form is used on a day-to-day basis. Under the Royal Assent Act 1967, Royal Assent can be granted by the Sovereign in writing, by means of letters patent, that are presented to the presiding officer of each House of Parliament. Then, the presiding officer makes a formal, but simple statement to the House, acquainting each House that the Royal Assent has been granted to the acts mentioned. Thus, unlike the granting of Royal Assent by the Sovereign in person or by Royal Commissioners, the method created by the Royal Assent Act 1967 does not require both Houses to meet jointly for the purpose of receiving the notice of Royal Assent. The standard text of the Letters Patent is set out in The Crown Office (Forms and Proclamations Rules) Order 1992," The Crown Office (Forms and Proclamations Rules) Order 1992 ". Office of Public Sector Information, 2002. Retrieved on , 2007 . The traditional ceremony whereby the Lords Commissioners declare Assent in the presence of both Houses is still followed once at the end of each Parliamentary session. The procedure adopted in 1967 is followed in most cases. When the Act is assented by the Sovereign in person, or by Royal Commissioners empowered by him, Royal Assent is considered given at the moment when the assent is declared in the presence of both Houses jointly assembled. When the procedure created by the Royal Assent Act, 1967 is followed, Assent is considered granted after the presiding officers of both Houses, having received the Letters Patent from the monarch signifying the Assent, notify their respective House of the grant of Royal Assent. Thus, if each presiding officer makes the announcement at a different time (for instance because one House is not sitting on a certain date), assent is regarded as granted when the second announcement is made. This is relevant because, under British Law, unless there is any provision to the contrary, an Act takes effect on the date in which it receives Royal Assent, and that date is not regarded as being the date when the Letters Patent are signed, or when they are delivered to the presiding officers of each House, but the date in which both Houses have been formally acquainted of the conferral of Assent to the Act. Independently of the method used to signify Royal Assent, it is the responsibility of the Clerk of the Parliaments, once it has been duly notified to both Houses, not only to endorse the Act with the formal Norman French formula, but to certify that Assent has been granted. The Clerk signs one authentic copy of the Bill, and inserts the date in which when Royal Assent was notified to the two Houses between the text of the enacting clause and the first section of the Act. When an Act is published, the signature of the clerk is omitted, as per the Norman French formula, should the endorsement have been made in writing. However the date when Royal Assent is notified is printed in brackets. COMMONWEALTH REALMS signs the Canadian Constitution Act into law in Ottawa on April 17 , 1982 ]] In Commonwealth Realms outside the UK, the Royal Assent is granted or withheld by the Governor-General, the representative of the Sovereign. Similarly, in these Realms' states, provinces or territories, Assent is granted or withheld by the Governor or Lieutenant Governor . A Governor or Lieutenant Governor of a subnational entity may defer to the Governor-General, who may in turn defer to the Sovereign. The Sovereign has the power to ''disallow'', usually within a specific time limit, a bill that has received the Royal Assent from one of his or her representatives. As in the United Kingdom, Royal Assent is by convention granted on the advice of the government's ministers, and is therefore never withheld. In some cases, when a royal visit to a Commonwealth Realm is pending, Assent may be reserved so that the Sovereign may grant it in person. In New Zealand, section 16 of the , 2007 . Historical development While the Royal Assent has not been withheld in the United Kingdom since 1708, it has often been withheld in British colonies and former colonies by Governors acting on royal instructions. In the , 2007 . Even after colonies such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Newfoundland were granted Responsible Government , the British Government continued to advise Governors-General on the granting of Assent. Assent was sometimes reserved in order to allow the British Government to examine a bill before advising the Governor-General. Since the 1920s, Governors-General have acted solely on the advice of the local ministers, rather than on that of the British Government. As in the United Kingdom, the ministers generally maintain the support of the legislature and are the ones who secure the passage of bills; therefore, they are unlikely to advise the Sovereign's representative to withhold Assent. The power to withhold the Royal Assent was notably exercised by , 2007 . In Australia, a technical issue arose with the Royal Assent in both 1976 and 2001. In 1976, a bill originating in the , 2007 . Ceremony , grants Royal Assent to laws in the Canadian Senate , May 19 , 1939 . His consort, Queen Elizabeth, is to the right.]] In Commonwealth Realms, Assent may be granted by the Sovereign in person, by the Governor-General in person, or by a deputy acting for the Governor-General. In all of the Realms, however, Assent is more often granted or signified outside the legislature, with each House being notified separately. In Australia, the formal ceremony of granting Assent in Parliament has not been regularly used since the early twentieth century. Now, the bill is sent to the Governor-General's residence by the House in which it originated. The Governor-General then signs the bill, sending messages to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who notify their respective Houses of the Governor-General's action.Losier-Cool, Rose-Marie. " Bill S-34 ". The Parliament of Canada Journals, Issue 92, Appendix, 5 March , 2002 . Retrieved on 17 April , 2007 . A similar practice is followed in New Zealand, where the Governor-General has not personally granted the Royal Assent in Parliament since 1875. In Canada, the traditional ceremony for granting Assent in Parliament was regularly used until the twenty-first century, long after it had been discontinued in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth Realms. Under the Royal Assent Act, 2002, however, the alternative practice of granting Assent in writing, with each House being notified separately, was introduced. As the Act provides, the Royal Assent is signified in the . British Crown dependencies The Lieutenant Governors of the Channel Islands do not grant Royal Assent. Instead, the Sovereign directly grants Royal Assent by use of Orders In Council . Assent is granted or refused on the advice of the Ministry Of Justice in the UK. The Isle of Man is an exception. The Lieutenant Governor is able to grant Royal Assent to bills passed by , 2007 . British overseas territories The Governors (or Lieutenant Governor) of each , 1996 . Retrieved on 31 March , 2007 . After the territory's Transfer Of Sovereignty to become a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic Of China , bills are signed and promulgated by the Chief Executive , who is both the head of the territory and the head of government, to become ordinances. OTHER COUNTRIES Other nations usually have a process whereby laws are Promulgated . In Commonwealth states that are not Realms, the phrase "Assent" is usually employed. As in the United Kingdom, the grant of Assent by the head of state is usually a ceremonial procedure. In the United States and most other Presidential Republic s, the President "signs bills into law"; the power may trace its roots to the British concept of the Royal Assent, but is substantive rather than ceremonial, as the president also has the option to Veto bills. In most other nations, the head of state "sanctions" or " Promulgate s" the law. In many monarchies, such as Spain, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg, Malaysia and Japan, the monarch is responsible for promulgating laws. In other monarchies, such as the Netherlands and Sweden, the Government officially promulgates laws. In both cases, however, the process is usually ceremonial, whether by constitutional convention or by an explicit provision of the Constitution. In Belgium the "sanction royale" has the same legal effect as Royal Assent. The government is responsible if the King refuses the royal sanction. The King promulgates the law. This means the King formally publishes the law and orders that it be executed. In 1990, when , 2007 . Articles 77–79 of the Norwegian constitution specifically grant the King of Norway the right to withhold Royal Assent from any bill passed by the Storting, or parliament." The Norwegian Constitution ". The Storting information office. Retrieved on . The other European monarchy to allow the monarch withhold Royal Assent of his or her own will is 2007 The bill did pass, and the Prince now has many additional powers, including the power to withhold Royal Assent on his own accord. NOTES FURTHER READING
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