Britain: An official handbook > 1959

GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION 23
law and partly by precepts and practices, known as conventions, which are not
part of the law of the land in that violation of them may lead to proceedings in a
court of law, but which are nevertheless indispensable to the machinery of govern¬
ment. The rules of the constitution have never been codified, and can be changed
at any time by the passing of an Act of Parliament or by the general acceptance of
a new convention.
The three organs of government in the United Kingdom constitution are readily
distinguishable, although their functions often intermingle and overlap. They are:
(1) the Legislature, which consists of the Queen in Parliament, and is the
supreme authority in the realm;
(2) the Executive, which consists of the Cabinet and other Ministers of the
Crown, who are responsible for initiating and directing national policy;
Government Departments, most of them under the control of Ministers’
and all staffed by civil servants, who are responsible for administration at
the national level; local authorities, who administer and manage many
services at the local level; and statutory boards, which are severally respon¬
sible for the operation of particular nationalised industries or public services,
and which may be subject to ministerial control in varying degrees; and
(3) the Judiciary, which determines common law and interprets statutes, and
is independent of both the legislature and the executive.
This chapter will describe these organs of government in some detail in order to
show how the constitution of the United Kingdom works.
THE MONARCHY
The monarchy is the most ancient secular institution in the United Kingdom.
Its continuity has been broken only once in over a thousand years; and in spite of
interruptions in the direct line of succession, the hereditary principle upon which
it was founded has never been abandoned. Queen Elizabeth II is a descendant of
the Saxon king, Egbert, who united all England in the year 829.
The royal title in the United Kingdom is, according to the Royal Titles Act,
1953 • Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head
of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith’. The form of the royal title is Varied
for the other member nations of the Commonwealth which owe allegiance to the
Crown, to suit the particular circumstances of each.
The seat of the monarchy is in the United Kingdom. In the other member
nations of the Commonwealth which owe allegiance to the Crown, the Queen is
represented by a Governor-General appointed by the Crown on the advice of the
ministers of the country concerned. The functions of the Governor-General are to
fill the role of ceremonial head of the State and to exercise the prerogative powers
of the Crown in public administration according to the constitutional practice
obtaining in the country to which he is accredited. As the Queen’s representative,
the Governor-General is wholly independent of the United Kingdom Government;
he is often a national of the country in which he holds office. In the United Kingdom
dependencies the Queen is represented by Governors-General, Governors, High
Commissioners or Residents, who are appointed by the Crown, but who have, in
addition, varying executive and legislative powers, and are responsible to the United
Kingdom Government for the good government of the countries concerned. In the
Channel Islands, and in the Isle of Man, the Queen is represented by a Lieutenant-
Governor.
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