Order in Council - Making Rules For the Wording of Documents and the Publication of Royal Proclamations [1878-02-22]

Whereas by an Act passed in the 41st year of Her Majesty's reign, intituled, "An Act for making provision with respect "to the preparation and authentication of Commissions and "other Documents issued from the Office of the Clerk of the "Crown in Chancery, and for other purposes," it is enacted that Her Majesty may by Order in Council make, and when made, from time to time revoke, add to, or alter, Rules—

Prescribing the form in which documents to which the said Act applies, or any of them, are to be worded; and—

Making regulations as to the publication of Royal Proclamations, and as to the towns to which copies of such proclamations are to be sent, and generally as to the best mode of making such Proclamations known to the public:

Provided that—

Acts of or Bills in Parliament may in all cases be cited by their short titles; and—

Wherever convenient the enumeration of Acts of or Bills in Parliament, of names of persons, or other matters, shall be contained in a schedule or schedules, and in particular in the case of commissions of the peace the names of the justices shall, so far as seems to Her Majesty convenient, be placed in a schedule, with spaces for additions to be made of the names of justices to be appointed after the issue of such commission.

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, in pursuance of the said Act, and by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, is pleased to make the Rules set forth in the schedule hereunto annexed for the purposes aforesaid.

C. L. Peel.

The following form shall be used for commissions of the peace under the Great Seal for counties in England and Wales:—

Form of County Commission of the Peace.

Victoria by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen Defender of the Faith to Our Lord Chancellor of that part of Our said United Kingdom called Great Britain the Lord President of Our Council the Lord Keeper of Our Privy Seal and the other Members of Our Most Honourable Privy Council now and for the time being the Keeper of the Rolls of Our peace of Our county of________________and for the time being the Lord Chief Justice of England the Master of the Rolls the Lords Justices of Our Court of Appeal and the Lord Chief Baron of Our Exchequer the Lords Justices of Our Court of Appeal and the Justices of Our High Court of Justice now and for the time being Our Attorney and Solicitor General now and for the time being And the persons named in the schedule hereunto annexed Greeting Know ye that We have assigned you and every one of you jointly and severally Our justices to keep Our peace in the county of and to keep and cause to be kept all the ordinance and statutes for the good of Our peace and for the preservation of the same and for the quiet rule and government of Our people made in all and singular their articles in Our said county (as well within liberties as without) according to the force form and effect of the same And to chastise and punish all persons that come before you or any of you according to the form of those statutes in them in the aforesaid county as it ought to be done according to the form of those ordinances and statutes And to cause to come before you or any one of you all those who to any one or more of Our people concerning their bodies or the firing of their houses have used threats to find sufficient security for the peace or their good behaviour towards Us and Our people and if they shall refuse to find such security then them in Our prison until they shall find such security to cause to be detained And We have also assigned you and every two or more of you Our justices to inquire the truth more fully by the oath of good and lawful men of the aforesaid county by whom the truth of the matter shall be the better known of all and all manner of crimes trespasses and all and singular other offences of which the justices of Our peace may or might lawfully to inquire by whomsoever and after what manner soever in the said county done or perpetrated or which shall there happen to be done or attempted And to inspect all indictments whatsoever so before you or any of you taken or to be taken or before others into Our justices of the peace in the aforesaid county made or taken and not yet determined And to make and continue processes thereupon against all and singular the persons so indicted or who before you hereafter shall happen to be indicted And to hear and determine all and singular the crimes tres-passes and offences aforesaid according to the laws and statutes of Our realm according to the laws and statutes of Our realm as in the like case it has been accustomed or ought to be done And the same offenders and every of them for their offences by fines ransoms amerciaments forfeitures and other means as according to the law and custom of Our realm or form of the statutes aforesaid is reasonable to be chastise and punish Provided always that if a case of difficulty upon the determination of any of the premises before you or any two or more of you shall happen to arise then let judgment in no wise be given thereon before you or any two or more of you unless in the presence of one of Our justices appointed to hold the assizes in the aforesaid county And therefore We command you and every of you that to keeping the peace ordinances statutes and every of them in all and singular their articles you apply yourselves and that at certain days and places which you or any such two or more of you as aforesaid shall appoint for these purposes into the premises you make inquiries and all and singular the premises hear and determine and perform and fulfil them in the aforesaid form doing therein what to justice appertains according to the law and custom of Our realm established by the tenure of these presents Our sheriffs of the said county of ________ that at certain days and places which you or any such two or more of you (as is aforesaid) shall make known to them the cause to come before you or such two or more of you as is aforesaid so many and such good and lawful men of his bailiwick by whom the truth of the matter in the premises may the better be inquired the premises shall the better known and determined We also command the Keeper of the Rolls of Our peace in Our county aforesaid to bring before you at the days and places aforesaid the writs precepts processes and indictments aforesaid that they may be inspected and by a due course determined as is aforesaid In witness whereof We have caused these Our letters to be made patent Witness Ourself at Westminster the day of ________ in the ________ year of Our reign.

Rule 2.

The same form of commission of the peace as set forth in Rule 1 shall be used for the liberties of the Cinque Ports, Peterborough, Ripon, [the Tower of London,] Westminster, the Isle of Ely, and the town and county of Haverfordwest. The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports [and the Constable of the Tower] being [respectively] substituted for the Keeper of the Rolls.

Rule 3.

The same form of commission of the peace as set forth in Rule 1 shall be used for Scotland except that the judges and law officers of Scotland shall be substituted for the judges and law officers of England.

Rule 4.

The following form shall be used for commissions of the peace under the Great Seal for boroughs in England and Wales:—

Form of Borough Commission of the Peace.

Victoria by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen Defender of the Faith To the Mayor of the borough of ________ and the other persons named in the schedule hereto Greeting Know ye that We have assigned you and every of you jointly and severally Our justices to keep Our peace in and throughout the said borough of ________ and to keep and cause to be kept all ordinances and statutes made for the good of Our peace and for the conservation of the same and for the quiet rule and government of Our people in all and every the articles thereof in the said borough (as well within liberties as without) according to the form and effect of the same And to chastise and punish all persons that offend against the form of those ordinances or statutes or any one of them in the aforesaid borough as it ought to be done according to the form of these ordinances and statutes and to cause to come before you or any one of you all those who to any one or more of Our people concerning their bodies or the firing of their houses have used threats to find sufficient security for the peace or their good behaviour towards Us and Our people and if they shall refuse to find such security then them in Our prisons until they shall find such security to cause to be safely kept And therefore We command you that you diligently apply yourselves to the keeping Our peace ordinances statutes and all and singular other the premises and perform and fulfil them in form aforesaid doing therein what to justice appertains according to the laws and customs of England In witness whereof We have caused these Our letters to be made patent Witness Ourself at Westminster the ________ day of ________ in the ________ year of Our reign.

Rule 5.

The following form of commission for declaring the Royal Assent shall be used when Parliament has been opened by the Queen:—

Form of Royal Assent when Parliament has been opened by the Queen.

Victoria by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen Defender of the Faith To Our right trusty and right well-beloved the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and to Our trusty and well-beloved the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons in this present Parliament assembled Greeting Whereas in Our said Parliament divers and sundry Acts have been agreed and assented on by you Our loving subjects the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this Our present Parliament assembled and endorsed by you as hath been accustomed the titles or short titles of which Acts are set forth in the schedule hereto And albeit the said Acts by you Our said subjects the Lords and Commons in the Our present Parliament assembled are fully agreed upon yet nevertheless the said Acts cannot be put into execution or effect in the law without Our Royal Assent given and put to the said Acts And forasmuch as for divers causes and considerations We cannot conveniently at this time be present in Our Royal Person in the Higher House of Our said Parliament being the accustomed place for giving Our Royal Assent to such Acts as have been agreed upon by you Our said subjects the Lords and Commons We have therefore caused these Our letters patent to be made and We have signed the same by Ourselves and do give and put Our Royal Assent to the said Acts and to all articles clauses and provisions therein contained and have fully agreed and assented to the said Acts Willing that the said Acts and every article clause sentence and provision therein contained from henceforth shall be of the same strength force and effect as if We had been personally present in the said Higher House and had openly and publicly in the presence of you all given and declared Our Royal Assent thereunto and declare and notify the same Our Royal Assent as well to you the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons aforesaid as to all others whom it may concern Commanding also by these presents Our well-beloved and faithful counsellor [insert name of the Lord Chancellor] Our Chancellor of that part of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called Great Britain to seal these Our letters patent with Our Great Seal of Our said United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called Great Britain and Our [insert names of the Commissioners] or any three or more of them to declare and notify this Our Royal Assent in Our absence in the said Higher House in the presence of you the said Lords and Commons of Our Parliament there to be assembled for that purpose and the Clerk of Our Parliament to endorse the said Acts with such terms and words in Our name as is requisite for the same and also to enroll these Our letters patent and that after this Our Royal Assent given and notified as is aforesaid shall be to every of them a sufficient warrant in that behalf And finally We do declare and notify this Our Royal Assent in Our absence in the said these presents and declared and notified as is aforesaid then and immediately the said Acts shall be taken accepted and admitted good sufficient and perfect Acts of Parliament and laws to all intents constructions and purposes and to be put in due execution accordingly the continuance or things to the contrary thereof notwithstanding In witness whereof We have caused these Our letters to be made patent Witness Ourselves at Westminster the ________ day of ________ in the ________ year of Our reign.

By the Queen Herself Signed by Her own Hand.

Rule 6.

The following form of Commission for declaring the Royal Assent shall be used when Parliament has been opened by Commission:—

Form of Royal Assent when Parliament has been opened by Commission.

Victoria by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen Defender of the Faith To Our right trusty and right well-beloved the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and to Our trusty and well-beloved the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons in this present Parliament assembled greeting Whereas in Our said Parliament divers and sundry Acts have been agreed and assented on by you Our loving subjects the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this Our present Parliament assembled and endorsed by you as hath been accustomed the titles or short titles of which Acts are set forth in the schedule hereto And albeit the said Acts by you Our said subjects the Lords and Commons in this Our present Parliament assembled are fully agreed and consented unto yet nevertheless the same are not of force and effect in the law without Our Royal Assent given and put to the said Acts And forasmuch as for divers causes and considerations We cannot conveniently at this time be present in Our Royal Person in the Higher House of Our said Parliament being the accustomed place for giving Our Royal Assent to such Acts as have been agreed upon by you Our said subjects the Lords and Commons We have therefore caused these Our letters patent to be made and have signed the same and by the same do give and put Our Royal Assent to the said Acts and to all articles clauses and provisions therein contained and have fully agreed and assented to the said Acts Willing that the said Acts and every article clause sentence and provision therein contained from henceforth shall be of the same strength force and effect as if We had been personally present in the said Higher House and had openly and publicly in the presence of you all assented to the same And we do by these presents declare and notify the same Our Royal Assent as well to you the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons aforesaid as to all others whom it may concern commanding also by these presents Our well-beloved and faithful Councillor (insert name of the Lord Chancellor) Our Chancellor of that part of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called Great Britain to seal these Our letters patent with Our Great Seal of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland And commanding Our [insert names of the Commissioners] or any three or more of them to declare and notify this Our Royal Assent in Our absence in the said Higher House in the presence of you the said Lords and Commons of Our Parliament there to be assembled for that purpose and the Clerk of Our Parliaments to endorse the said Acts with such terms and words in Our name as is requisite for the same and also to enroll these Our letters patent and the said Acts in manner accustomed and that after this Our Royal Assent given and passed by these presents and notified as is aforesaid shall be to every of them a sufficient warrant in that behalf And finally We do declare and will that after this Our Royal Assent given and passed by these presents and declared and notified as is aforesaid then and immediately the said Acts shall be taken accepted and admitted good sufficient and perfect Acts of Parliament and laws to all intents constructions and purposes and to be put in due execution accordingly the continuance or dissolution of this Our Parliament or any prorogation thereof or anything else to the contrary notwithstanding And whereas Our letters patent bearing date at Westminster the ________ day of ________ in the ________ year past by which we gave and grant unto Our said (insert names of the first five or six Peers in the Commission) and other Lords of Our Privy Council therein named or any three of them full power in Our name to hold Our said Parliament and to open and declare and cause to be opened and declared the causes of holding the same and amongst other things to do consent and assent to such Acts and Bills arising therein and to do everything which for Us and by Us for the government of Our said United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of other Our dominions belonging to Our said United Kingdom should be therein to be done And also if necessary to continue adjourn and prorogue Our said Parliament We do hereby further declare that Our said letters patent and every clause matter and thing therein contained shall be and remain in the same force and strength but no further as if these presents had not been had or made and that nothing herein contained shall be deemed or taken to affect or invalidate the said recited letters patent or any of the powers or authorities therein contained or the doing of any Act or thing by virtue thereof In witness whereof We cause these our letters to be made patent Witness Ourself at Westminster the ________ day of ________ in the ________ year of Our reign.

By the Queen Herself Signed with Her own Hand.

Rule 7.

Copies of all Royal Proclamations (except those for further proroguing Parliament) shall be sent to the sheriffs of all counties cities and towns in England and Wales and to the sheriffs of all counties in Scotland who are hereby required to make them known as manner accustomed.