I must admit that there are things troubling me about the decision of the UK Supreme Court which held that the Queens proroguing of the British Parliament was void.
In the first instance, how can ‘advice’ in itself be considered to be unlawful? Improper is one thing but unlawful is quite another particularly since it appears that the court was not aware of what that advice actually was or how it was worded.
Secondly, how is it possible for any court to then say that an Order of the Queen was null and void?
Surely, once the Queen has signed off on an Order in Council, that Order remains until and unless revoked by the Queen in Council. Whilst courts have previously examined the limits of the Royal Prerogative, they have done so only where such limits were uncertain. It was always recognised that the court could not ignore, set aside, quash or over-rule the Royal Prerogative. Presumably, the Supreme Court accepted that it was not empowered to set aside such an order but instead it determined that that Order simply did not happen, but as everyone is aware it obviously did.
The Supreme Court was established under the Constitutional Reform Act of 2005 and took over the appellate jurisdiction of the Law Lords as well as some powers of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, later President of the Supreme Court, expressed concerns that the new court could make itself more powerful than the House of Lords committee it succeeded, saying that there is a real risk of "judges arrogating to themselves greater power than they have at the moment".
Of course, in Australia, we forget how indoctrinated the bureaucracy, the defence forces and the judiciary of the United Kingdom have become under the rule of the European Union. Influenced by European ideology their thinking is not like the thinking of days past.
The Queen is coming under attack with calls by some leftist MPs for her abdication. In Australia republicans Are accusing her of complicity with Boris Johnson. This of the monarch who has dealt impartially and irreproachably with 14 British prime ministers during her long reign!
Throughout this whole episode the Queen has behaved impeccably as she always behaves, adhering to procedure and protocol without interruption.
Philip Benwell
National Chair
The Australian Monarchist League