Under what conditions can Queen Elizabeth II create laws?
In the UK, alongside Commonwealth nations, the reigning Monarch cannot create laws, but has to approve them. I know this is a massive oversimplification, but still.
My question is this: What laws would have to be repealed or changed to allow Queen Elizabeth II to take personal control of either the UK or a Commonwealth nation like Canada? If they cannot, is the old theory of dissolving Parliament and "sacking the Government and replace them all with yes-men" still valid today?
Posted Aug 3, 2019, 5:39 AM UTC
You sent me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole. I knew some of this, but not all.
For an appetiser, check out letters patent:
As to your question about what the Queen can do, the standard answer is that Parliament is sovereign, not the monarch:
This was formalised in the Bill of Rights 1689 which declares that:
So she would have to get the rest of Parliament to agree to repeal that act to begin with. That act is shared with the rest of the Commonwealth realms, so that would be a major diplomatic feat. Here's New Zealand's version of the dispensing powers section, for example.