The Crown Office, also known (especially in official papers) as the Crown Office in Chancery, is a section of the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

(formerly the

Lord Chancellor's Department The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to the Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales. Created in 1885 as the Lord Chancellor's Office with a small staff to assist the Lord Chancel ...

). It has custody of the Great Seal of the Realm, and has certain administrative functions in connection with the courts and the judicial process, as well as functions relating to the electoral process for

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

elections, to the keeping of the Roll of the Peerage, and to the preparation of royal documents such as warrants required to pass under the

royal sign-manual The royal sign-manual is the signature of the sovereign, by the affixing of which the monarch expresses his or her pleasure either by order, commission, or warrant. A sign-manual warrant may be either an executive act (for example, an appointmen ...

, fiats, letters patent, etc. In legal documents, the Crown Office refers to the office of the

Clerk of the Crown in Chancery A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service c ...

. The Crown Office employees consist of the Head of the Crown Office, one sealer and two scribes.

Responsibilities

Warrants, patents and charters

All formal royal documents (such as warrants to be signed by the

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

; letters patent, both those that are signed by the sovereign and those that are approved by warrant; and royal charters) are prepared by the Crown Office. The name of the Clerk of the Crown is subscribed/printed at the end of all documents as a way of authentication of their having passed through the Crown Office. This is also done in notices placed by the Crown Office in The Gazette.

Great Seal of the Realm

The Crown Office is also responsible for sealing with the Great Seal of the Realm all documents that need to pass under that seal, once the authority for the use of the seal is signified by the Sovereign (authorization to use the seal is granted either by the monarch signing a warrant that approves the draft text of letters patent, directs that they be prepared and authorizes them to be sealed and issued, or by the Sovereign directly signing the letters patent that are to pass under the great seal, as is necessary in some cases, such as with letters patent that grant Royal Assent to bills passed by

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 ...

and with instruments of consent relating to royal marriages).

Royal assent

The Crown Office is involved in the

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 ...

process, both when this happens in person by the Lords Commissioners and by notification to both Houses of Parliament. In all cases, the Crown Office prepares a commission for royal assent to bills. When royal assent occurs at the

Prorogation Prorogation in the Westminster system of government is the action of proroguing, or interrupting, a parliament, or the discontinuance of meetings for a given period of time, without a dissolution of parliament. The term is also used for the peri ...

of Parliament, the Clerk of the Crown reads out the short titles of Acts due to receive royal assent, after which the

Clerk of the Parliaments The Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The position has existed since at least 1315, and duties include preparing the minutes of Lords proceedings, advising on proper parlia ...

notifies both Houses of royal assent to every Act, usually with the endorsement “La Reyne le veult”. When royal assent is given by notification to both Houses, sitting separately, by the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

and

Lord Speaker The Lord Speaker is the presiding officer, chairman and highest authority of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the member ...

, the Crown Office prepares and delivers to the Speaker a certificate notifying them that the sovereign has given royal assent to the Acts listed in the certificate, and directing that royal assent be notified by the Speaker, or one of their deputies, in House of Commons Chamber. In the House of Lords, the Crown Office delivers the royal assent commission to the clerks at the table of the House, after which the Lord Speaker, or one of their deputies, notifies the House that royal assent has been given to the Acts listed in the royal assent commission.

Roll of the peerage, baronetage

The Crown Office is responsible for maintaining and updating the Roll of the Peerage. The

Secretary of State for Justice The secretary of state for justice, also referred to as the justice secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Justice. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the Un ...

is the keeper of the Peerage Roll, and his duties in that regard are daily discharged by a Registrar of the Peerage and a Deputy Registrar, who work within the Crown Office and are therefore under the supervision of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, who assumes the position of Registrar of the Peerage. The duties of the Ministry of Justice regarding the keeping and maintenance of the Roll of the Peerage are discharged in collaboration with the Garter King of Arms and

Lord Lyon King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grant ...

, regarding their respective heraldic jurisdictions. The Crown Office also compiles the

Official Roll of the Baronetage The Official Roll of the Baronetage is an official list of baronets kept by the Lord Chancellor; an abridged version is published online by the Standing Council of the Baronetage. Any person who wishes to claim succession to a baronetcy must produ ...

House of Commons and elections

The Crown Office also has duties relating to the elections for the

. The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery initiates a parliamentary election in a constituency by sending an election writ to the

returning officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral ...

of the constituency, and historically received all ballot papers and ballot stubs after the election was complete though they are now kept locally by the registration officer for each area (and retained for a year). At the first meeting of the House of Commons following a general election, the Clerk of the Crown delivers the Book of Returns to the Clerk of the House of Commons, which contains the list of MPs returned to Parliament. However, this has usually been done by the Deputy Clerk of the Crown, most recently in 2010, 2015 and 2017. The list is also published on the Gazette, on a notice placed by the Crown Office.

Clerk of the Crown in Chancery

The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, whose office has, since 1885, been held in addition to the position of Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, is the titular head of the Crown Office, though this distinction is regularly used by the Deputy Clerk; they are appointed by the Monarch under the royal sign-manual. The Clerk of the Crown also holds the responsibilities of the old office of Secretary of Presentations, which was part of the

and gave recommendations on the appointment of senior members of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

and other ecclesiastical patronage work. The office was amalgamated into that of the Clerk of the Crown in 1890.

Deputy and assistant clerks

They are assisted by Deputy Clerks of the Crown in Chancery, which vary between one and two, and deputize in full capacity for the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery when needed. The last instance of this happening was in 2020 (September-December), before the current clerk, Antonia Romeo was appointed, during which time Ceri King, Deputy Clerk, assumed the full position of Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. The office of Assistant Clerk of the Crown in Chancery is also used.

Notes

References

External links

*{{Cite web, url=https://erskinemay.parliament.uk/section/6424/clerk-of-the-crown-in-chancery/, title=Clerk of the Crown in Chancery - Erskine May - UK Parliament, website=erskinemay.parliament.uk, language=en, access-date=2019-09-07
Parliamentary Archives, Records of the Clerk of the Crown
Crown Office Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)