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The naming of a number of appointments, titles and offices, etc.—such a Queen's Counsel, the Queen's Warehouse, and Queen's Bench—will now need to be reviewed following King Charles III acceding to the throne.

Notwithstanding these name changes, does the passing of the late Queen Elizabeth II cause any issues with those holding an office under the Crown?

Heddy
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3 Answers3

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No

See section 1(1) Demise of the Crown Act 1901 :

The holding of any office under the Crown, whether within or without His Majesty’s dominions, shall not be affected, nor shall any fresh appointment thereto be rendered necessary, by the demise of the Crown. [My emphasis]

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Things like Queen's Counsel immediately and automatically become "King's Counsel"

A whole group of barristers will have to get new paperwork printed! At some point, domain names will, too: qcappointments.org. will become kcappointments.org. and so forth.

It makes no practical difference.

Community
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James K
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I'll note that traditionally the demise of the Crown did cause the authorities (the Parliament, courts, offices under the Crown etc.) deriving from the previous Monarch to cease as the personal nature of the Crown prevailed.

The English and British Parliaments had since provided for by statutes (various Demise of the Crown Acts and Succession to the Crown Acts) that the Parliament, courts and other offices under the Crown shall be continued despite the personal death of the monarch.

Nowadays, in the Commonwealth Realms, the Crown is effectively a continuous existence that a particular person occupies; the institutional nature of the Crown prevails.

Each jurisdiction under His Majesty's rule often affirms the (non-)effect of the demise of the crown in their own laws.

For example,

Demise of Crown Effect of demise

46 (1) Where there is a demise of the Crown,

(a) the demise does not affect the holding of any office under the Crown in right of Canada; and

(b) it is not necessary by reason of the demise that the holder of any such office again be appointed thereto or, having taken an oath of office or allegiance before the demise, again take that oath.

Continuation of proceedings

(2) No writ, action or other process or proceeding, civil or criminal, in or issuing out of any court established by an Act is, by reason of a demise of the Crown, determined, abated, discontinued or affected, but every such writ, action, process or proceeding remains in full force and may be enforced, carried on or otherwise proceeded with or completed as though there had been no such demise.

  • there may be small differences in these jurisdictions, for example, in , Australia, the Constitution Act 1975 (No. 8750 of 1975), requires re-taking of the oath of allegiance upon the demise of the Crown for state parliamentarians (despite the Parliament not being resolved for the demise):

23 (2) Whenever the demise of the Crown is notified by the Governor to the Council and the Assembly, the members of the Council and of the Assembly shall before they are permitted to sit or vote therein respectively take and subscribe the like oath or affirmation to the successor for the time being to the Crown.

xngtng
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