Lords, in delivering a list of bills ready for the royal assent, desires that the Speaker would mark in that list which of them appear to him to be bills of supply; and those bills are immediately sent down to the House of Commons.1 supply. It is customary, on the Speaker's presenting the bills of Speaker's supply on the last day of the session, or any bill for the speech on preparticular service of the Crown in the course of the sessenting bills of sion-for the Speaker to make a speech at the bar of the House of Lords, either immediately arising out of the subject matter of the bill itself, or when it is at the close of a session, recapitulating the principal objects which have employed the attention of the Commons during their sitting.2 66 6 If The royal assent may be given two ways 1. In person; Royal assent. when the king comes to the House of Peers in his crown and royal robes, and sending for the Commons to the bar, the titles of all the bills that have passed both Houses are read, and the king's answer is declared by the clerk of the parliament in Norman French. If the king consents to a public bill, the clerk usually declares, le roy le veut," the king wills it so to be; if to a private bill, "soit fait come il est desiré,”—be it as it is desired.* the king refuses his assent, the language is, "le roy s'avisera," the king will advise upon it. When a bill of supply is passed, it is carried up and presented to the king by the Speaker of the House of Commons, and the royal assent is thus expressed, "le roy remercie ses loyal subjects, accept leur benevolence, et aussi le veut,"-the king thanks his loyal subjects, accepts their benevolence, and wills it so to be. In case of an act of grace, which originally proceeds from the Crown, and has the royal assent in the first stage of it, the clerk of the parliament thus pronounces the gratitude of the subject; “les prelats, seigneurs, et commons, en ce present parliament assembles, au nom de touts vous autres subjects, remercient tres humblement votre majesté, et prient a Dieu vous donner en sante bone vie et longue," the prelates, lords and commons, in this present parliament assembled, in the name of all your other subjects, most humbly thank your majesty, and pray to God to grant you in health and wealth, long to live. 2. By the statute 33 H. 8. c. 21, 13 Hats. 161, 162. 23 Hats. 162, 163. 3 D'Ew. 35. 116. + D'Ew. 35. ⚫ D'Ew. 35. 6 Rot. Parl. 9. H. 4. in Pryn; 4 Inst. 30, 31. 7 D'Ew. 35. 8 D'Ew. 35. E Enrolment. Date of an Act of Parliament. the king may give his assent by letters patent, under his great seal, signed with his hand, (not with the stamp of his name but by another) and notified in his absence to both Houses assembled together in the high house. And when the bill has received the royal assent in either of these ways, it is then and not before, a statute or act of parliament.2 After this assent the clerk of the parliament transcribes every public act into a roll. And subscribes-le roy le veut. In transcribing private acts, he commences within parliamento inchoat. et tent., &c. inter al. inactitat. ordinat. et stabilit. fuit sequens hoc statutum ad verbum ut sequitur, viz.; and at the conclusion adds—ego A. B. clericus parliamenti virtute brevis supradict. dominæ nostræ reginæ de certiorand. mihi direct. et hiis annex. certifico superius hoc scriptum verum esse tenor. act. parl. supradict. in eo brevi express. In cujus rei testimonium &c. Public acts after enrolment are delivered into chancery, and this is the original record. But there is no enrolment without the suit of the party; and, therefore, the original bill filed among the bills of parliament, and marked with the great seal, as the course is, is the original record of it. Formerly, an act of parliament, unless specially directed to commence from such a day, took effect from the beginning of the session. But the 33 G. 3. c. 13. has directed that the clerk of the parliaments shall indorse (in English) upon every act, immediately after its title, the day, month, and year, on which it received the royal assent; which indorsement shall (unless otherwise directed by the act itself) be the date of its commencement. And by the 48 G. 3. c. 106. where any bill shall be introduced into parliament, for the continuance of any act which would expire in such session, and such act shall have expired before the bill for continuing the same shall have received the royal assent, such continuing act shall have effect from the date of the expiration of the act intended to be continued, as if such continuing act had actually passed before the expiration of such act, except it shall be otherwise provided in such continuing act, with a proviso against any one being 1 Dy. 93. 21 Com. 184, 185. Where the assent of one or two branches of the legislature is given, the instrument is called an ordinance. 4 Inst. 25. affected with any punishment, penalty, or forfeiture, by reason of any thing done or omitted to be done by any person contrary to the provisions of the act so continued between the expiration of the same, and the date at which the act continuing the same shall receive the royal assent. The statute or act is placed among the records of the Promulgation. kingdom; there needing no formal promulgation to give it the force of a law. However, a copy thereof is usually printed at the king's press, for the information of the whole land. And formerly, before the invention of printing, it was used to be published by the sheriff of every county; the king's writ being sent to him at the end of every session, together with a transcript of all the acts made at that session, commanding him, “ut statuta illa, et omnes articulos in eisdem contentos, in singulis locis ubi expedire viderit, publice proclamari, et firmiter teneri et observari faciat." And the usage was to proclaim them at his county court, and there to keep them, that whoever would might read or take copies thereof, which custom continued till the reign of Henry the seventh." By writ of certiorari, the tenor of the record of an act of parliament may be removed into Chancery, and delivered into the King's Bench by the Chancellor in person. It may thence, by mittimus, be sent to the Common Pleas or Exchequer. And the king by writ may command that each court the act firmiter observari faciat." Certiorari to remove the tenor of an act. SECTION II. On the Passing of Private Bills. REGULATIONS prescribed for the passing of Private Bills, are 1. General. 2. or Particular. General, or those which apply to all bills universally. Particular, or those which apply to certain classes only. A noncompliance, however, with these regulations will not affect the bill when passed. R. 51. Their classification. Notice ; and nary essentials. The regulations may be classed under six several heads-1. The steps preliminary to petitioning for the bill; 2. The application or petition itself; 3. The first; 4. And second reading; 5. Committee; 6. And third reading. And both general and particular will be detailed under one and the same division. The particular regulations, in alphabetical order, relate to bills for building Bridges-regulating County or poor rates, or the employment of the poor-constituting Courts for the recovery of small debts-compounding debts due to the Crown-Divorce-settling Estates-Gaols, houses of correction or workhouses, churches, chapels, or burying grounds piers, ports, or Harbours-inclosing, draining, or improving any lands, fens, or commons-confirming or prolonging the term of letters patent-granting public MoneyNaturalizing-making Navigable canals, aqueducts, rivers navigable, tunnels or archways, railways or tramroads— Paving, lighting, cleansing or improving cities or towns, or erecting or improving any town halls or market-places, and Turnpike roads. And in speaking of each class, we shall use a single term only, as descriptive of the whole. 1. Notice, to the parties interested, of an intended apother prelimi- plication for a private bill, is not enjoined by any general regulation; but the orders of the House of Commons. enjoining this duty in particular cases, are in their effects. almost universal. In bills for erecting bridges'-for regulating county rates2-estate bills—for erecting gaols1— making harbours-inclosures 6-confirming or prolonging letters patent7-for public money-navigation-paving 10 and turnpike road" bills, a preliminary notice is requisite. In paving bills too, containing powers to borrow money, widen streets, &c. a committee in the Lords require that such bills should have been submitted to a vestry meeting of the inhabitants. And in all bills, where money is to be raised upon the inhabitants 1 H. C. 23 May, 1786; 18 April, 1810. 2 H. C. 30 May, 1810; referring to 20 May, 1791, and 18 April, 1810. 3 H. L. 29 April, 1799, on presenting the petition. 4 H. C. 30 May, 1810; 18 April, 1810. 5 H. C. 18 April, 1810. 6 H. C. 25 April, 1774; 18 April, 1810. 7 H. L. 28 March, 1808. H. C. 30 June, 1801. "This House will receive no petition for any sum of money relating to public service, but what is recommended from the Crown." H. C. June, 1713. 9 H. L. 11 March, 1793. H. C. 7 May, 1794; 18 April, 1810; 16 June, 1795; 30 May, 1810. 10 H. C. 20 May, 1791; 18 April, 1810; 30 May, 1810. of a place, a vestry meeting should be called, or a printed 2. The requisite preliminaries having been observed, Petition; when the next step to a Private Bill, with a single exception, necessary: is a petition to the House, presented by a member, for leave to bring it in.5 The excepted case, is a bill for reversing an attainder or outlawry; where the king's allowance, written in the margin, is sufficient without a petition. In this petition, the intended provisions must Its form : be detailed; and correctly, since no deviations will be allowed, unless upon special petition to amend the bill, where the alterations are not extensive-to withdraw the petition and present another, where they are. tition should be signed by all the suitors or those concerned in the consequences of the bill;7 with, however, the exception of such as are intended for witnesses to support it, since no signer can depose in its favour. The signatures should be by the persons themselves, not an amanuensis. In the case of crown debts, composition, Accompanying divorse,1o harbour," navigation,12 and turnpike road13 bills, certain documents must be annexed to the petition. And the king's recommendation (signified by the Chancellor of The pe- Signature. 9 documents. |