Scottish Militia Bill

Last updated

Scottish Militia Bill
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of Great Britain (1707-1714).svg
Long title A Bill for settling the Militia of that Part of Great Britain called Scotland
Status: Not passed

The Scottish Militia Bill 1708 (known formerly as the Scotch Militia Bill) was a bill that was passed by the House of Commons and House of Lords of the Parliament of Great Britain in early 1708. However, on 11 March 1708, [1] Queen Anne withheld royal assent on the advice of her ministers for fear that the proposed militia would be disloyal. This was due to the sudden appearance of a Franco-Jacobite invasion fleet en route to Scotland which gave ministers second thoughts, at the last minute, about allowing it to reach the statute books. As of 2024, it is the last occasion on which the royal veto has been used in Great Britain or the United Kingdom. [2]

Contents

Content

The bill's long title was "An Act for settling the Militia of that Part of Great Britain called Scotland". Its object was to arm the Scottish militia, which had not been recreated at the Restoration. This happened as the unification between Scotland and England under the Acts of Union 1707 had been passed.

On the day the bill was meant to be signed, news came that the French were sailing toward Scotland for the planned invasion of 1708 and there was suspicion that the Scots might be disloyal. Therefore, support for a veto was strong and the Queen refused her royal assent to the bill.

Significance

The Scottish Militia Bill 1708 is the last bill to have been refused royal assent. Before this, King William III had vetoed bills passed by Parliament six times. Royal assent to bills generally came to be viewed as a mere formality once both Houses of Parliament had successfully read a bill three times, or a general election had taken place. No royal veto has taken place for legislation. [lower-alpha 1]

In the British colonies, the denial of royal assent (exercised on the advice of ministers) had continued past 1708[ citation needed ], and was one of the primary complaints of the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776: that the King "has refused his Assent to Laws, most wholesome and necessary for the public Good" and "He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance". Similar provisions existed elsewhere in the British Empire, most notably disallowance and reservation in Canada, which fell into disuse in the 20th century.

Notes

  1. In 2023, Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was subject to a post-legislative veto, however the bill was vetoed by the Secretary of State for Scotland (who has power to do so under section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998), not by the Sovereign.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of the United Kingdom</span> Legislative body in the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster in London. Parliament possesses legislative supremacy and thereby holds ultimate power over all other political bodies in the United Kingdom and the Overseas Territories. While Parliament is bicameral, it has three parts: the sovereign (King-in-Parliament), the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. In theory, power is officially vested in the King-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the prime minister, and the powers of the House of Lords are limited to only delaying legislation; thus power is de facto vested in the House of Commons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne, Queen of Great Britain</span> Queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1702 to 1714

Anne was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland following the ratification of the Acts of Union on 1 May 1707, which merged the kingdoms of Scotland and England. Prior to this, she was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 8 March 1702.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monarchy of the United Kingdom</span> Function and history of the British monarchy

The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. The current monarch is King Charles III, who ascended the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949</span> United Kingdom legislation establishing the supremacy of the House of Commons

The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 are two Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which form part of the constitution of the United Kingdom. Section 2(2) of the Parliament Act 1949 provides that the two Acts are to be construed as one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veto</span> Legal power to stop an official action, usually enactment of legislation

A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto powers are also found at other levels of government, such as in state, provincial or local government, and in international bodies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal assent</span> Formal approval of a proposed law in monarchies

Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in others that is a separate step. Under a modern constitutional monarchy, royal assent is considered little more than a formality. Even in nations such as the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, Liechtenstein and Monaco which still, in theory, permit their monarch to withhold assent to laws, the monarch almost never does so, except in a dire political emergency or on advice of government. While the power to veto by withholding royal assent was once exercised often by European monarchs, such an occurrence has been very rare since the eighteenth century.

In a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government, a reserve power, also known as discretionary power, is a power that may be exercised by the head of state without the approval of another branch or part of the government. Unlike in a presidential system of government, the head of state is generally constrained by the cabinet or the legislature in a parliamentary system, and most reserve powers are usable only in certain exceptional circumstances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Act of Security 1704</span> Act of the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland

The Act of Security 1704 was a response by the Parliament of Scotland to the Parliament of England's Act of Settlement 1701. Queen Anne's last surviving child, William, Duke of Gloucester, had died in 1700, and both parliaments needed to find a Protestant successor. The English Parliament had settled on Electress Sophia of Hanover, granddaughter of King James VI and I, without consulting the Scottish Parliament.

A bill is a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to significantly change an existing law. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and has been, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law by the legislature, it is called an act of the legislature, or a statute. Bills are introduced in the legislature and are discussed, debated and voted upon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Great Britain</span> United English and Scottish parliament 1707–1800

The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdom of Great Britain and created the parliament of Great Britain located in the former home of the English parliament in the Palace of Westminster, near the City of London. This lasted nearly a century, until the Acts of Union 1800 merged the separate British and Irish Parliaments into a single Parliament of the United Kingdom with effect from 1 January 1801.

"Elective dictatorship", also called "executive dominance" in political science, is a phrase describing the state in which a typical Westminster system state's parliament is dominated by the government of the day. It refers to the fact that the legislative programme of Parliament is determined by the government, and government bills virtually always pass the legislature because of the nature of the majoritarian first-past-the-post electoral system, which almost always produces strong government, in combination with the imposition of party discipline on the governing party's majority, which almost always ensures loyalty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Parliament of Great Britain</span> Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1707 to 1708

The first Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain was established in 1707 after the merger of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. It was in fact the 4th and last session of the 2nd Parliament of Queen Anne suitably renamed: no fresh elections were held in England or in Wales, and the existing members of the House of Commons of England sat as members of the new House of Commons of Great Britain. In Scotland, prior to the union coming into effect, the Scottish Parliament appointed sixteen peers and 45 Members of Parliaments to join their English counterparts at Westminster.

Since 1997 the United Kingdom government has been engaged in reforming the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The history of reform before 1997, is set out in sections below about reforms of composition and powers carried out in the past and of unsuccessful proposals and attempts at reform in the twentieth century. Proposals include decreasing the number of lords, introducing a system where lords are democratically elected, or abolition of the House of Lords in favour of a unicameral Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Succession to the Crown Act 1707</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Succession to the Crown Act 1707 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of Great Britain. It is still partly in force in Great Britain.

In the UK and certain other Commonwealth countries, King's Consent is a parliamentary convention under which Crown consent is sought whenever a proposed parliamentary bill will affect the Crown's own prerogatives or interests. Prince's Consent is a similar doctrine, under which consent of the Prince of Wales must be obtained for matters relating to the Duchy of Cornwall. King's or Prince's Consent must be obtained early in the legislative process, generally before parliament may debate or vote on a bill. In modern times, following the tenets of constitutional monarchy, consent is granted or withheld as advised by government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal prerogative in the United Kingdom</span> Privileges and immunities of the British monarch

The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity attached to the British monarch, recognised in the United Kingdom. The monarch is regarded internally as the absolute authority, or "sole prerogative", and the source of many of the executive powers of the British government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of the United Kingdom</span> Executive authority of the United Kingdom

His Majesty's Government is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The government is led by the prime minister who selects all the other ministers. The country has had a Conservative-led government since 2010, with successive prime ministers being the then-leader of the Conservative Party. The prime minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet.

<span title="Norman-language text"><i lang="nrf">Le Roy le veult</i></span> Phrase used in parliamentary procedure

Le Roy le veult or La Reyne le veult is a Norman French phrase used in the Parliament of the United Kingdom to signify that a public bill has received royal assent from the monarch. The kings in Anglo-Norman England were titled Roy, Rey, Rei, Roi and the Latin Rex, all meaning "King". This written form would be inscribed on manuscripts during the Anglo-Norman rule of England. Usage of this phrase is a legacy of the time prior to 1488 when parliamentary and judicial business was conducted in French, the language of the educated classes dating to the Norman Conquest of 1066. It is one of a small number of Norman phrases that continue to be used in the course of parliamentary procedure.

Events from the year 1708 in Scotland.

References

  1. "Parliaments: 1705". The History of Parliament. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 6 November 2016. On 11 Mar. 1708, when the Queen attended the Lords to give assent to several bills, she used her prerogative of veto against one, the bill for settling the Scottish militia.
  2. Queen Anne's veto is recorded as "La Reine s'avisera" ("The Queen will consider it") in 18 H.L. Jour. 506 (1707).