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, is a technical term of
British constitutional law 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.
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. Though the Queen remains a part of the parliaments in realms such as
Australia and
Tuvalu, the enacting clause for acts of parliament do not mention her, being only
The Parliament of Australia enacts and
ENACTED by the Parliament of Tuvalu..., respectively.
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.