by emad » Thu Aug 11, 2005 11:58 am
Royal prerogative power inquiry <br>11 August 2005 <br><br>An inquiry into the use of the royal prerogative power by Government to deploy the UK's armed forces, is to be conducted by an all-party committee of peers.<br><br>Chairman of the House of Lords select committee on the Constitution, Lord Holme, said: "This has been one of the most important constitutional issues of the past few years, on which feelings run understandably high.<br> <br>"It is important to conduct a thorough inquiry to identify how the requirements of democracy and national emergency can best be reconciled."<br><br>Under the royal prerogative powers, a government can declare war and deploy armed forces without the backing or consent of Parliament.<br><br>However, the Government did allow Parliament a vote before the Iraq war in 2003, leading to calls that it should be required to seek Parliament's approval before taking action in future conflicts.<br><br>In 2004, the House of Commons Public Administration Committee published a report on Ministers' prerogative powers recommending that "any decision to engage in armed conflict should be approved by Parliament, if not before military action then as soon as possible afterwards".<br><br>The Government responded that they were "not persuaded" that replacing prerogative powers within a statutory framework would improve the present position.<br><br>Since then, three Private Members' Bills have been brought forward in Parliament, which seek to give Parliament a greater role in the exercise of these royal prerogative powers.<br><br>The Lords committee will be looking at evidence to see what alternatives there are to the use of royal prerogative powers in the deployment of the armed forces.<br><br>And they will want to know if models drawn from the practice of other democratic States provide useful comparisons. The Committee will also ask if Parliament has a role in the decision to deploy armed forces and if so what form should it take.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/PA_NEWA31565431123755820A0?source=PA%20Feed">www.thisislondon.com/news...=PA%20Feed</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> <p></p><i></i>