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Royal Commission

 
Political Dictionary: royal commissions
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In the United Kingdom, royal commissions are committees of inquiry established by royal charter or warrant at the behest of the cabinet to look into issues of considerable public importance. Their membership and precise terms of interest will be set by a member of the cabinet, but it is then intended that their collection of evidence, deliberations, and submission of a report to the cabinet are carried out independently. Royal commissions have at least an educative impact, and may contribute policy proposals which are taken up by the cabinet. At worst they are used as vehicles for diffusing political problems, or are overtaken by the need to respond to events more rapidly. They fell out of favour after 1979 but are still occasionally used on major issues such as the future of the House of Lords (Wakeham Commission 1999-2000). The idea has been adopted by many Commonwealth countries.

— Jonathan Bradbury

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British History: royal commissions
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The preferred 18th-cent. method of investigating problems —apart from leaving things alone—was the select parliamentary committee. This had some disadvantages: composed of MPs it was likely to be partisan; few MPs had the time to devote to a thorough inquiry; and it was almost impossible to take the committee round the country to gather evidence. From 1800 onwards, with increasing concern for social questions, royal commissions multiplied—11 in the first decade, 46 in the fourth, 75 in the sixth. The defects of royal commissions are not inconsiderable. They are expensive, slow, and there is no guarantee that action will follow. Indeed, cynics regard them as an admirable way of disposing of awkward issues until after the next general election.

Wikipedia: Royal Commission
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The term Royal Commission may also be used in the United Kingdom to describe the group of Lords Commissioners who may act in the stead of the Sovereign to grant Royal Assent to legislation passed by Parliament.

In states that are Commonwealth Realms a Royal Commission is a major government public inquiry into an issue. They have been held in states such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia. In Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, a Commission of Enquiry or Commission of Inquiry is similarly organised.

A Royal Commissioner has considerable powers, generally greater even than those of a judge but restricted to the "Terms of Reference" of the Commission. The Commission is created by the Head of State (Sovereign, Governor-General or Governor) on the advice of the Government and formally appointed by Letters Patent. In practice—unlike lesser forms of inquiry—once a Commission has started the government cannot stop it. Consequently governments are usually very careful about framing the Terms of Reference and generally include in them a date by which the commission must finish.

Royal Commissions are called to look into matters of great importance and usually controversy. These can be matters such as government structure, the treatment of minorities, events of considerable public concern or economic questions.

Many Royal Commissions last many years and, often, a different government is left to respond to the findings. In Australia—and particularly New South Wales—Royal Commissions have been investigations into police and government corruption and organised crime using the very broad coercive powers of the Royal Commissioner to defeat the protective systems that powerful, but corrupt, public officials had used to shield themselves from conventional investigation.

Royal Commissions are usually chaired by one or more notable figures. Because of their quasi-judicial powers the Commissioners are often retired senior judges.

Royal Commissions usually involve research into an issue, consultations with experts both within and outside of government and public consultations as well. The Warrant may grant immense investigatory powers, including summoning witnesses under oath, offering of indemnities, seizing of documents and other evidence (sometimes including those normally protected, such as classified information), holding hearings in camera if necessary and—in a few cases—compelling all government officials to aid in the execution of the Commission.

The results of Royal Commissions are published in, often, massive reports of findings containing policy recommendations. (Due to the verbose nature of the titles of these formal documents – for example, the Royal commission into whether there has been corrupt or criminal conduct by any Western Australian Police Officer – they are commonly known by the name of the principal Commissioner.) While these reports are often quite influential, with the government enacting some or all recommendations into law, the work of some Commissions have been almost completely ignored by the government. In other cases, where the Commissioner has departed from the Warranted terms, the commission has been dissolved by a superior court.

Contents

Notable Royal Commissions

Australia

Main article: List of Australian Royal Commissions
See also: List of South Australian Royal Commissions

Canada

Main article: List of Canadian Royal Commissions

Hong Kong

  • Commission of Inquiry on Allegations relating to the Hong Kong Institute of Education (2007)
  • Commission of Inquiry on the New Airport (1998-99)
  • Commission of Inquiry into the Garley Building Fire (1996-97)

Malaysia

New Zealand

Saudi Arabia

  • Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (1975) in planning, development, construction, operation and maintenance of the various infrastructure and services of Jubail and Yanbu industrial cities.

United Kingdom

References

  1. ^ http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/r.christie/thomas_royal_commission_1980.pdf
  2. ^ The Times, 22 November 1904, Index pg7

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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Political Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics. Copyright © 1996, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
British History. A Dictionary of British History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Royal Commission".  Read more