The Crown is the
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
in all its aspects within the
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
of the
Commonwealth realm
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealt ...
s and their subdivisions (such as the
Crown Dependencies,
overseas territories
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
,
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
, or
states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different meanings depending on context. It is used to designate the monarch in either a personal capacity, as
Head of the Commonwealth
The head of the Commonwealth is the ceremonial leader who symbolises "the free association of independent member nations" of the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental organisation that currently comprises 56 sovereign states. There is ...
, or as the king or queen of their realms (whereas the
monarchy of the United Kingdom
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...
and the
monarchy of Canada
The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the fou ...
, for example, are distinct although they are in
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
). It can also refer to the
rule of law
The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...
; however, in common parlance 'The Crown' refers to the functions of
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
and the
civil service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
. Thus, in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
(one of the Commonwealth realms), the
government of the United Kingdom
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal coat of arms of t ...
can be distinguished from the Crown and the state, in precise
usage
The usage of a language is the ways in which its written and spoken variations are routinely employed by its speakers; that is, it refers to "the collective habits of a language's native speakers", as opposed to idealized models of how a language ...
, although the distinction is not always relevant in
broad
Broad(s) or The Broad(s) may refer to:
People
* A slang term for a woman.
* Broad (surname), a surname
Places
* Broad Peak, on the border between Pakistan and China, the 12th highest mountain on Earth
* The Broads, a network of mostly na ...
or casual usage.
A
corporation sole
A corporation sole is a legal entity consisting of a single ("sole") incorporated office, occupied by a single ("sole") natural person. , the Crown is the legal embodiment of executive,
legislative
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...
, and
judicial
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudication, adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and app ...
governance in the
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
of each commonwealth realm. These monarchies are united by the
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
of their
monarch
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...
, but they are independent states. The concept of the Crown developed first in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
as a separation of the literal crown and property of the kingdom from the person and personal property of the monarch. It spread through English and later
British colonisation and is now rooted in the legal lexicon of the United Kingdom, its Crown dependencies, and the other 14 independent realms. It is not to be confused with any physical crown, such as those of the
British regalia.
The term is also found in various expressions such as "
Crown land
Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...
", which some countries refer to as "public land" or "state land"; as well as in some offices, such as
minister of the Crown
Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term indicates that the minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure, and advises the sovereign or ...
,
Crown attorney
Crown attorneys or crown counsel (or, in Alberta and New Brunswick, crown prosecutors) are the prosecutors in the legal system of Canada.
Crown attorneys represent the Crown and act as prosecutor in proceedings under the Criminal Code and vario ...
, and
Crown prosecutor.
Concept
The concept of the Crown took form under the
feudal system
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
. Though not used this way in all countries that had this system, in England, all rights and privileges were ultimately bestowed by the ruler. Land, for instance, was granted by the Crown to lords in exchange for feudal services and they, in turn, granted the land to lesser lords. One exception to this was common
socage
Socage () was one of the feudal duties and land tenure forms in the Feudalism, English feudal system. It eventually evolved into the freehold tenure called "free and common socage", which did not involve feudal duties. Farmers held land in excha ...
: owners of land held as socage held it subject only to the Crown. When such lands become owner-less they are said to
escheat
Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...
; i.e., return to direct ownership of the Crown (Crown lands). ''
Bona vacantia
Unowned property includes tangible, physical things that are capable of being reduced to being property owned by a person but are not owned by anyone. ' (Latin for "ownerless goods") is a legal concept associated with the unowned property, which e ...
'' is the royal prerogative by which unowned property, primarily unclaimed inheritances, becomes the property of the Crown.
The monarch is the living embodiment of the Crown and, as such, is regarded as the
personification
Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their b ...
of the state.
The body of the reigning sovereign thus holds two distinct personas in constant coexistence: that of a natural-born human being and that of the state as accorded to him or her through law; the Crown and the monarch are "conceptually divisible but legally indivisible ...
e office cannot exist without the office-holder". The terms ''the state'', ''the Crown'', ''the Crown in Right of
urisdiction', ''His Majesty the King in Right of
urisdiction', and similar are all synonymous and the monarch's
legal personality
Legal capacity is a quality denoting either the legal aptitude of a person to have rights and liabilities (in this sense also called transaction capacity), or altogether the personhood itself in regard to an entity other than a natural person ( ...
is sometimes referred to simply as the relevant jurisdiction's name.
(In countries using systems of government derived from Roman
civil law, the State is the equivalent concept to the Crown.)
As a consequence, the king or queen is the employer of all government officials and staff (including the viceroys, judges, members of the armed forces, police officers, and parliamentarians), the guardian of foster children (''
Crown wards''), as well as the owner of all state lands (''
Crown land
Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...
''), buildings and equipment (''Crown-held property''), state-owned companies (''
Crown corporation
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...
s''), and the
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
for government publications (''
Crown copyright''). This is all in his or her position as sovereign, not as an individual; all such property is held by the Crown in perpetuity and cannot be sold by the sovereign without the proper
advice and consent
Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something previo ...
of his or her relevant ministers.
The Crown also represents the legal embodiment of executive,
legislative
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...
, and
judicial
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudication, adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and app ...
governance. While the Crown's legal personality is usually regarded as a
corporation sole
A corporation sole is a legal entity consisting of a single ("sole") incorporated office, occupied by a single ("sole") natural person. , it can, at least for some purposes, be described as a
corporation aggregate
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...
headed by the monarch.
Divisibility of the Crown
Historically, the Crown was considered to be indivisible. Two judgments — ''
Ex parte Indian Association of Alberta'' (
EWCA
The Court of Appeal (formally "His Majesty's Court of Appeal in England", commonly cited as "CA", "EWCA" or "CoA") is the highest court within the Senior Courts of England and Wales, and second in the legal system of England and Wales only to ...
, 1982) and ''
Ex parte Quark'' (
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, 2005) — challenged that view. Today, the Crown is considered separate in every country, province, state, or territory, regardless of its degree of independence, that has the shared monarch as part of the respective country's government, though limitations on the power of the monarch in right of each territory vary according to relevant laws, thus making the difference between full sovereignty, semi-sovereignty, dependency, etc. The Lords of Appeal wrote: "The Queen is as much the Queen of New South Wales and Mauritius and other territories acknowledging her as head of state as she is of England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or the United Kingdom."
Commonwealth realms
![2019 Reunião Bilateral com o Príncipe Charles - 48948389972 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/2019_Reuni%C3%A3o_Bilateral_com_o_Pr%C3%ADncipe_Charles_-_48948389972_%28cropped%29.jpg)
The Crown in each of the
Commonwealth realm
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealt ...
s is a similar, but separate, legal concept. To distinguish the institution's role in one jurisdiction from its place in another, Commonwealth law employs the expression ''the Crown in right of
lace
Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...
'; for example, the Crown in right of the United Kingdom, the Crown in right of Canada, the Crown in right of the Commonwealth of Australia, etc. Because both Canada and Australia are federations, there are also Crowns in right of each
Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...
and each
Australian state
The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...
.
The Crown's powers are exercised either by the monarch personally or by his or her representative in each jurisdiction, on the
advice
Advice (noun) or advise (verb) may refer to:
* Advice (opinion), an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide to action, conduct
* Advice (constitutional law) a frequently binding instruction issued to a constitutional office-holder
* Advice (p ...
of the appropriate local
ministers
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...
, legislature, or judges, none of which may advise the Crown on any matter pertinent to another of the Crown's jurisdictions.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, the term "The Crown" is used to mostly mean the authority of government; its meaning changes in different contexts. In the context of people considering
Treaty of Waitangi claims, professor of history Alan Ward defines the Crown as "the people of New Zealand – including Maori themselves – acted through elected parliament and government."
Crown Dependencies
In the
Bailiwick of Guernsey
The Bailiwick of Guernsey (french: Bailliage de Guernesey; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is an island country off the coast of France as one of the three Crown Dependencies.
Separated from the Duchy of Normandy by and under the t ...
, legislation refers to ''the Crown in right of the Bailiwick'', and the Law Officers of the Crown of Guernsey submitted that "
e Crown in this context ordinarily means the Crown in right of the ''république'' of the Bailiwick of Guernsey" and that this comprises "the collective governmental and civic institutions, established by and under the authority of the Monarch, for the governance of these Islands, including the States of Guernsey and legislatures in the other Islands, the Royal Court and other courts, the Lieutenant Governor, Parish authorities, and the Crown acting in and through the Privy Council". This constitutional concept is also worded as ''the Crown in right of the Bailiwick of Guernsey''.
In the
Bailiwick of Jersey, statements by the
Law Officers of the Crown define the Crown's operation in that jurisdiction as ''the Crown in right of Jersey'', with all Crown land in the Bailiwick of Jersey belonging to the Crown in right of Jersey and not to the
Crown Estate
The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...
of the United Kingdom. The Succession to the Crown (Jersey) Law 2013 defined the Crown, for the purposes of implementing the
Perth Agreement
The Perth Agreement was made in Australia in 2011 by the prime ministers of the sixteen states known as Commonwealth realms, which at the time all recognised Elizabeth II as their head of state. The document agreed that the governments of the re ...
in Jersey law, as the ''Crown in right of the Bailiwick of Jersey''.
Legislation in the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
also defines the Crown in right of the Isle of Man as being separate from the Crown in right of the United Kingdom.
British Overseas Territories
Following the Lords' decision in ''
Ex parte Quark'', 2005, it is held that the Queen in exercising her authority over
British Overseas Territories
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...
does not act on the advice of the government of the UK, but in her role as Queen of each territory, with the exception of fulfilling the UK's international responsibilities for its territories. The reserve powers of the Crown for each territory are no longer considered to be exercisable on the advice of the UK government. To comply with the court's decision, the territorial governors now act on the advice of each territory's executive and the UK government can no longer disallow legislation passed by territorial legislatures.
In the courts
In
criminal proceedings
Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or i ...
, the state is the prosecuting party; the case is usually designated as ''R v
efendant', where ''R'' can stand for either ''Rex'' (if the current monarch is male) or ''Regina'' (if the monarch is female) against the
defendant
In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case.
Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...
. For example, a criminal case against Smith might be referred to as ''R v Smith'', and verbally read as "the Crown against Smith". On the indictment notice, it may state "The King (or The Queen) - v - ''Defendant''" as well as "R v ''Defendant''" (e.g. ''R v Tarrant'', which also stated ''The Queen v Tarrant'')".
The Crown is in general
immune to prosecution and civil lawsuits, so "R" is rarely (albeit sometimes) seen on the right hand side of the 'v' in the first instance. To pursue a case against alleged unlawful activity by the government, a case in
judicial review
Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...
is brought by the Crown against a
minister on the application of a
claimant
A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...
. The titles of these cases now follow the pattern of "R (on the application of X) v Y", notated as "R (X) v Y" for short. Thus ''
R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
''R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union'' is a United Kingdom constitutional law case decided by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom Supreme Court on 24 January 2017, which ruled that the Government ...
'' is ''R (on the application of Miller and other) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union'', where "Miller" is
Gina Miller
Gina Nadira Miller (' Singh; born 19 April 1965) is a Guyanese-British business owner and activist who initiated the 2016 '' R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union'' court case against the British government over its au ...
, a citizen. Until the end of the twentieth century, such case titles used the pattern ''R v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union,
ex parte
In law, ''ex parte'' () is a Latin term meaning literally "from/out of the party/faction of" (name of party/faction, often omitted), thus signifying "on behalf of (name)". An ''ex parte'' decision is one decided by a judge without requiring all ...
Miller''. Either form may be abbreviated ''R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union''.
In Scotland, criminal prosecutions are undertaken by the
Lord Advocate
, body =
, insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg
, insigniasize = 110px
, image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png
, incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC
, incumbentsince = 22 June 2021
, appointer = Monarch on the advice ...
(or the relevant
Procurator Fiscal) in the name of the Crown. Accordingly, the abbreviation 'HMA' is used in the
High Court of Justiciary
The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Cou ...
for "His/Her Majesty's Advocate" in place of ''Rex'' or ''Regina'', as in ''
HMA v Al Megrahi and Fahima''.
In Australia, each state uses ''R'' in the title of criminal cases and ''The King'' (or ''The Queen'') in criminal appeal cases (i.e., the case name at trial would be ''R v Smith''; if appealed, the case name would be ''Smith v The King''). Judges usually refer to the prosecuting party as simply "the prosecution" in the text of judgments (only rarely is ''The Crown'' used in the text, and never ''R''). In civil cases where the Crown is a party, it is a customary to list the appropriate government Minister as the party instead. When a case is announced in court, the Clerk or Bailiff refers to the crown orally as "Our Sovereign Lord the King" (or "Our Sovereign Lady the Queen").
In
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
court reporting, news reports will refer to the prosecuting lawyer (often called a Crown prosecutor, as in Canada and the United Kingdom) as representing the Crown, usages such as "For the Crown, Joe Bloggs argued..." being common.
This practice of using the seat of
sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
as the injured party is analogous with criminal cases in several countries:
* The United States, where state criminal cases use the format of "the People", "the State" or 'the Commonwealth v.
efendant (e.g., ''
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Brady
''Commonwealth v. Brady'', 510 Pa. 123, 507 A.2d 66 (Pa. 1986), is a case decided by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1986 which overruled close to two centuries of decisional law in Pennsylvania and established a common law exception to the ru ...
'', ''State of Wisconsin v. Kyle Rittenhouse,'' or more famously ''
The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson'') under the doctrine of
popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any ...
, and federal criminal cases use the format of "United States v.
efendant, as in ''
United States v. Nixon
''United States v. Nixon'', 418 U.S. 683 (1974), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court case that resulted in a unanimous decision against President ...
''.
* The Philippines, due to the
American colonial period in the Philippines
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
. Court cases there also follow this format (e.g. ''
People of the Philippines v. Rappler, et al.
''People of the Philippines v. Santos, Ressa and Rappler'' (R-MNL-19-01141-CR), also known as the Maria Ressa cyberlibel case, is a high-profile criminal case in the Philippines, lodged against Maria Ressa, co-owner and CEO of Rappler Inc.. Ac ...
'').
* India, where state criminal cases use the format of "The State of
tate
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
vs.
efendant.
The Crown can also be a plaintiff or defendant in civil actions to which the government of the Commonwealth realm in question is a party. Such
Crown proceedings are often subject to specific rules and limitations, such as the enforcement of judgments against the Crown.
''
Qui tam
In common law, a writ of ''qui tam'' is a writ through which private individuals who assist a prosecution can receive for themselves all or part of the damages or financial penalties recovered by the government as a result of the prosecution. Its ...
'' lawsuits on behalf of the Crown were once common but have been unusual since the
Common Informers Act 1951
The Common Informers Act 1951 (14 & 15 Geo. 6, c. 39) is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament that abolishes the principle of, and procedures concerning a common informer.
Background
A common informer was a person who provided evidence on cri ...
ended the practice of allowing such suits by common informers.
Crown forces
The term ''crown forces'' has been applied by
militant Irish republicans to British-authorised
security forces
Security forces are statutory organizations with internal security mandates. In the legal context of several nations, the term has variously denoted police and military units working in concert, or the role of military and paramilitary forces (s ...
on the island of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, including the
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...
and armed police such as the
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...
, which are seen as
enemy combatant
Enemy combatant is a person who, either lawfully or unlawfully, engages in hostilities for the other side in an armed conflict. Usually enemy combatants are members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. In the case ...
s or an
occupation
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment
*Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces
*Military occupation, th ...
force.
Irish nationalist
Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...
s may apply ''crown forces'' to earlier forces raised by the
Dublin Castle administration
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...
at intervals since the
Tudor conquest of Ireland
The Tudor conquest (or reconquest) of Ireland took place under the Tudor dynasty, which held the Kingdom of England during the 16th century. Following a failed rebellion against the crown by Silken Thomas, the Earl of Kildare, in the 1530s, He ...
to suppress
various Irish uprisings.
See also
*
Crown copyright
*
Crown corporation
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...
*
Crown Court
The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...
*
Crown Estate
The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...
*
Crown land
Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...
*
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland
The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Korona Królestwa Polskiego; Latin: ''Corona Regni Poloniae''), known also as the Polish Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, includ ...
*
Lands of the Bohemian Crown
The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of B ...
*
Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen
The Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen ( hu, a Szent Korona Országai), informally Transleithania (meaning the lands or region "beyond" the Leitha River) were the Hungarian territories of Austria-Hungary, throughout the latter's entire exis ...
*
Royal prerogative
The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy, as belonging to the sovereign and which have become widely vested in th ...
*
List of current viceregal representatives of The Crown
As sovereign, King Charles III is the living embodiment of The Crown in 15 countries known as the Commonwealth realms. The King resides primarily in the oldest and most populous realm, the United Kingdom, and is represented in the other count ...
Notes
Further reading
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crown (Commonwealth Realms)
British Overseas Territories
Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth realms
Common law
Monarchy
Legal fictions