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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and other

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

countries such as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, a crown servant is a "person employed by

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

". Although the term is not consistently defined, generally all executive officials and their staffs,

civil servants The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

s, judicial officials, and members of the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

are crown servants.

Crown servant vs civil servant

The terms

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and Crown servant can coincide but are sometimes exclusive. It is suggested that the phrase "civil servant" may include every person who serves the Crown, with the exception of members of the

armed forces of the United Kingdom The British Armed Forces are the unified 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, support international peacekeeping e ...

, the

Ministers 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 o ...

and the judiciaries of the United Kingdom. However, members of the armed forces are nonetheless Crown servants. Generally in Canada, unless specifically defined otherwise within a specific act, public servant refers to those working for "departments named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act, Canada and the other portions of the federal public administration named in Schedules II to V to that Act", and "does not include the Canadian Forces".

Employment rights

Crown servants serve "at the pleasure of the Crown", and do not therefore benefit from the protections normally available to employees by law. However, the majority of these protections are applied to them by section 273 of the

Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (c. 52) is a UK Act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament which regulates United Kingdom labour law. The act applies in full in England and Wales and in Scotland, and partially in Nort ...

. For the purposes of the Act, "crown employment" means employment "under or for the purposes of a government department or any officer or body exercising on behalf of the Crown functions conferred by an enactment", though members of the armed forces are excluded from this provision, and the government has the ability to exclude other Crown servants "for the purpose of safeguarding national security".

Official Secrets Act 1989

Section 12(1) of the Official Secrets Act 1989 defines the expression "Crown servant" for the purposes of that Act. It now provides: Paragraph (aa) was inserted on 6 May 1999 by section 125 of, an
paragraph 26(2)
of the Schedule to, the

Scotland Act 1998 The Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legislated for the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament with tax varying powers and the Scottish Government (then Scottish Executive). It was o ...

. Paragraph (ab) was inserted b
paragraph 34
of Schedule 10 to the

Government of Wales Act 2006 The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the then-National Assembly for Wales (now the Senedd) and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act creates a system ...

. This provision came into force immediately after the 2007 election by virtue o
section 161(1)
of that Act (subject to section 161(4) and (5), which provide that so far as it relates to functions of the Welsh Ministers, the First Minister, the Counsel General or the Assembly Commission, it came into force immediately after the end of "the initial period"). Paragraph (b) referred to a person appointed under section 8 of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 (which related to the

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive (Irish language, Irish: ''Feidhmeannas Thuaisceart Éireann'', Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Executive'') is the devolution, devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branc ...

and other things). It was repealed on 2 December 1999 by section
99
an
100(2)
of, an
paragraph 9
of Schedule 13 to, an
Schedule 15
to, the

Northern Ireland Act 1998 __NOTOC__ The Northern Ireland Act 1998 (c. 47) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allowed Westminster to devolve power to Northern Ireland, after decades of direct rule. It renamed the New Northern Ireland Assembly, establi ...

, subject to savings i
section 95
of that Act. The words "Part IX of the Reserve Forces Act 1996" in paragraph (c) were substituted for the words "the Reserve Forces Act 1980" on 1 April 1997 by section 131(1) of, an
paragraph 22
of Schedule 10 to, the Reserve Forces Act 1996, subject t
section 72(5)
of that Act. The words in the first set of square brackets in paragraph (e) were substituted for the words "(including a police force within the meaning of the Police Act (Northern Ireland) 1970)" on 4 November 2001, by section 74 of, an
paragraph 9
of Schedule 6 to, the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000. The words in the second set of square brackets in that paragraph were substituted for the words "or of the

National Criminal Intelligence Service The National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) was a United Kingdom Law enforcement in the United Kingdom, policing agency. Following the Police and Criminal Justice Act 2001, NCIS returned to direct funding by the Home Office in 2002 and was a ...

or the

National Crime Squad The National Crime Squad (NCS) was a British police organisation which dealt with national and transnational Organised crime, organised and major crimes. Formed in April 1998 after the amalgamation of six former Regional Crime Squads, it merge ...

" on 1 April 2006 by section 59 of, an
paragraph 58
of Schedule 4 to, the

Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (c. 15) (often abbreviated to SOCPA or SOCAP) is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom aimed primarily at creating the Serious Organised Crime Agency. It also significan ...

. The words "or of the

or the

" had been inserted on 1 April 1998, by section 134(1) of, an
paragraph 62
of Schedule 9 to the Police Act 1997. "Prescribed", ss.12(1)(f) & (g) This expression is defined by section 13(1) to mean prescribed by an order made by the Secretary of State. The procedure for making orders under the Act is provided by section 14. "Secretary of State" is defined by the

Interpretation Act 1978 The Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act makes provision for the interpretation of acts of Parliament, Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England, Measures of the Church Asse ...

to mean one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State. Prescribed classes of employees or members of prescribed bodies or classes of bodies, s. 12(1)(f) The following have been prescribed for the purposes of section 12(1)(f): *The employees of British Nuclear Fuels plcThe Official Secrets Act 1989 (Prescription) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/200), article 2 and Schedule 1 *The members of the Board of that Company *The members, officers and employees of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority *The employees of Urenco Limited *The members of the Board of that Company. *The employees of Urenco (Capenhurst) LimitedThe Official Secrets Act 1989 (Prescription) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/200), article 2 and Schedule 1 (as amended by the Official Secrets Act 1989 (Prescription) (Amendment) Order 1993 (S.I. 1993/847), article 2 and Schedule) *The members of the Board of that Company *The employees of Enrichment Technology Company LimitedThe Official Secrets Act 1989 (Prescription) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/200), article 2 and Schedule 1 (as amended by the Official Secrets Act 1989 (Prescription) (Amendment) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/1918), article 2(2) and Schedule 1) *The members of the Board of that Company *The employees of Enrichment Technology UK Limited *The members of the Board of that Company *The employees of Urenco Enrichment Company Limited *The members of the Board of that Company *The members and employees the Nuclear Decommissioning AuthorityThe Official Secrets Act 1989 (Prescription) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/200), article 2 and Schedule 1 (as amended by the Official Secrets Act 1989 (Prescription) (Amendment) Order 2007, article 2(4) *The employees of any subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. For this purpose, "subsidiary" has the same meaning as in the

Companies Act 1985 The Companies Act 1985 (c. 6) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, enacted in 1985, which enabled companies to be formed by registration, and set out the responsibilities of companies, their ...

.The Official Secrets Act 1989 (Prescription) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/200), article 2A (inserted by the Official Secrets Act 1989 (Prescription) (Amendment) Order 2007, article 2(3) *The members of the Board of any subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Again, "subsidiary" has the same meaning. *The members and employees of the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Prescribed offices, s.12(1)(g) The following offices are now prescribed for the purposes of section 12(1)(g): * Comptroller and Auditor GeneralThe Official Secrets Act 1989 (Prescription) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/200), article 3 and the first column of Schedule 2 *Member of staff of the National Audit Office * Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland *Member of staff of the Northern Ireland Audit Office * Auditor General for Scotland *

Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration 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. ...

*The Scottish Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration * Northern Ireland Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration * Scottish Public Services Ombudsman *A private secretary to the Sovereign Prescribed classes of employees of holders of prescribed offices, s. 12(1)(g) The following classes of employees of holders of the prescribed offices above are now prescribed for the purposes of section 12(1)(g): *The officers of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration who are not otherwise Crown servantsThe Official Secrets Act 1989 (Prescription) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/200), article 3 and the second column of Schedule 2 *Officer of the Health Service Commissioner for England being an officer who is authorised by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration to perform any of his functions and who is not otherwise a Crown servant *The staff of the Scottish Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration who are not otherwise Crown servants *The officers of the Northern Ireland Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration who are not otherwise Crown servants *The officers of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman who are not otherwise Crown servantsThe Official Secrets Act 1989 (Prescription) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/200), article 3 and the second column of Schedule 2 (as amended by article 11(c) of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2004 (S.I. 2004/1823 (S.4))

References

{{Civil service Public administration

Crown servant vs civil servant

Employment rights

Official Secrets Act 1989

See also

References