Research topic: orders in council

orders in council in British government, orders given by the sovereign on the advice of all or some of the members of the privy council, without the prior consent of Parliament. Orders in council, first so named in the 18th cent., are based either on royal prerogative or on statutory authority. The prerogative allows an order in council to be used to ratify a treaty, to declare the end of a state of war, or to appoint civil service commissioners, but as a vehicle of royal power such an order no longer has any utility. Orders in council are authorized by statute in situations where a possible... Read more