A declaration of war is a formal declaration issued by a national

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 ...

indicating that a state of

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

exists between that nation and another. 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the government and command of the armed forces is vested in the sovereign. Under the sovereign, direct control of the armed forces is divided between the

and the Defence Council. However, a constitutional convention has developed regarding parliamentary approval for military action. There has been a long-running debate regarding whether

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

alone should have the power to declare war and more widely to commit British forces to armed conflict. This was attempted (to the limited extent of possible war against

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

) in 1999 with the introduction of the

Military Action Against Iraq (Parliamentary Approval) Bill The Military Action Against Iraq (Parliamentary Approval) Bill was a private member's bill introduced into the United Kingdom House of Commons by Tam Dalyell under the Ten Minute Rule. It received its formal first reading on 26 January 1999. T ...

. However Queen Elizabeth II, acting upon the advice of her government at the time, refused to grant her consent to allow the bill to be debated in Parliament and so it was dropped (

Queen's Consent In the UK and certain other Commonwealth realm, Commonwealth countries, King's Consent (Queen's Consent when the monarch is female) is a parliamentary convention under which The Crown, crown consent is sought whenever a proposed parliamentary bi ...

was needed before debate could take place because the bill affected the royal prerogative). The

Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (c. 25), or CRAG Act, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on UK constitutional law which affected the civil service and the ratification of treaties, and made other significant cha ...

originally included a section that would have required Parliamentary approval for use of the armed forces, but this was dropped from the bill before

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

. There have been no declarations of war since the Second World War (against

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

in 1942, to be precise),Waging war: Parliament's role and responsibility
(PDF). 27 July 2006. Retrieved 12th August 2020. Page 7. though British Armed Forces have taken part in armed conflict on numerous occasions nonetheless. It is considered, in light of developments in international law since 1945, notably the

Charter of the United Nations The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the ...

, that a declaration of war is now redundant as a formal international legal instrument. The procedure for a declaration of war is set out in a letter dated the 23rd August 1939 from

Gerald Fitzmaurice Sir Gerald Gray Fitzmaurice (24 October 1901 – 7 September 1982)''Judge Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice and the Discipline of International Law: Opinions on the International Court of Justice, 1961-1973'', J. G. Merrills, ed. (Martinus Nijhoff, 1 ...

. It reads:

''Mr Harvey'' Halifax's_Private_Secretary_to_whom_Fitzmaurice's_reply_was_sent.html" ;"title="Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax">Halifax's Private Secretary to whom Fitzmaurice's reply was sent">Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax">Halifax's Private Secretary to whom Fitzmaurice's reply was sent The Secretary of State's enquiry about how we declare war. The method of procedure is to deliver a declaration of war to the diplomatic representative in London of the enemy Power or Powers at such hour as may be decided upon by the Cabinet and to obtain a receipt recording the time of delivery. The declaration is delivered by a special messenger who should take with him the special passports covering the enemy representative, his family and personal staff and his diplomatic staff and their families. These are now being drafted on the assumption that war would in the first place be only declared on Germany and the Secretary of State would have to sign them. It is not possible to state definitely at present what the terms of the declaration of war itself would be as these must depend upon circumstances. It is quite likely that our declaration of war might be preceded by an ultimatum which would be delivered in Berlin. This might e.g. take the form that if by a certain time the German Government had not given an assurance that they would proceed no further with their violation of Polish territory the Ambassador had instructed to ask for his passports and that His Majesty's Government would have to take such steps as might seem good to them. In such a case our actual declaration of war on the expiry of the time limit would take the form of notifying the German Embassy that no satisfactory reply having received from the German Government, His Majesty's Government considered that a state of war between the two countries existed as from a certain time. I understand that the declaration would be drafted in consultation with the Dominions Office. Once the declaration has been delivered a lot of consequential results follow, such as informing the other Government Departments that war has been declared and giving the same information to the diplomatic representatives in London of non-enemy powers and so forth. Standing drafts for all these purposes exist.

Formal declarations of war by the Kingdom of Great Britain

The following table refers to declarations of war from the Act of Union in 1707 until the creation of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...

in 1801.

Formal declarations of war by the United Kingdom

The following table refers to declarations of war since the creation of the United Kingdom in 1801. In 1927 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was renamed the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".

Notes and references

External links

War Powers and Treaties: Limiting Executive Powers
(pub. October 2007 (accessed on 2016.10.09) {{DEFAULTSORT:Declaration Of War By The United Kingdom Wars involving the United Kingdom Wars involving Great Britain

Constitution of the United Kingdom Foreign relations of the United Kingdom

Formal declarations of war by the Kingdom of Great Britain

Formal declarations of war by the United Kingdom

See also

Notes and references

External links