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The Queen has two capacities: firstly she is an individual capable
of owning and disposing of her own property. In her private
capacity she is immune from the law, and so cannot be charged
with any crime, and she does not have to pay income tax.
The
reason for these immunities is that she is herself considered
to be ‘the fountain of justice’, and there for she
cannot bring an action against herself. The majority of criminal
actions are brought in the name of the Queen (R=Regina (Queen)
v. Smith).
The immunity of the Queen does not extend to any
of the members of her family, who are all subject to the law
in the same way as members of the public.
Secondly, the Queen is also the present representative of a
corporation sole which has perpetual existence irrespective
of who actually occupies the throne at any particular moment.
In this corporate capacity the Queen is normally referred to
as the Crown, an expression which is extended to all those who
act under the direct authority of the Queen, such as the armed
services, the government, government departments and civil servants,
and consular officers. The expression does not include the nationalised
industries, nor such organisations as the British Broadcasting
Corporation, which are separate legal entities created by Parliament.
Before 1047, the Crown could be sued only by certain archaic
methods, the chief of which was the process known as Petition
of Right, and in many circumstances there was no remedy at all.
The Crown Proceedings Act 1947, however, stated that:
-The Petition of Right and certain other old statutory procedures
are abolished.
-A person may now sue the Crown, by ordinary process and under
the normal rules of court, in all those cases where he could
previously have proceeded only by Petition of Right or one of
the other abolished special statutory procedures. Thus, a person
can now sue the Crown in contract or for the restitution of
property.
With certain exceptions, which are not important in the present
context, the Crown is liable in tort, as if it were a natural
person of full age and capacity. It is responsible:
(a) in respect of torts committed by its servants or agents
where the servant or agent would also be liable;
(b) in respect of any breach of those duties which a person
owes to his servants or agents at common law by reason of being
their employer;
(c) in respect of any breach of the duties attaching at common
law to the ownership, occupation, possession, or control of
property;
(d) in respect of breaches of statutory duties expressly binding
the Crown as well as other persons.
-An action against the Crown may be begun in either the High
Court or the county
court as appropriate. The proceedings are instituted against
the appropriate government department or, if they are not associated
with a particular government department, against the Attorney-General.
Civil servants and members of the armed services are in a special
position in that in general they are not entitled to sue the
Crown in respect of their service agreements. Most of the provisions
of the Employment Protection Act 1975, however, apply to civil
servants and allow them to bring actions against the Crown for
unfair dismissal. No such remedies are, however, available to
members or the armed services.
The Crown differs from other litigants in that there is no method
of enforcing judgment against it. This is, however, of academic
interest only, as the Crown always abides strictly by the decisions
of the Courts, subject to the same rights of appeal as are available
to people generally.
The Post Office occupies a peculiar position in law. At one
time Post Office employees were Crown servants, but the Post
Office Act 1969 established the Post Office as a public authority,
which does not enjoy the privileges of the Crown. Nevertheless
it is still the case that there is no contractual relationship
between the Post Office and any of its customers, and no action
lies against the Post Office for anything done or omitted to
be done in relation to any postal packet, except that an action
can be brought for damages for loss of a registered inland postal
packet. The action must be brought within twelve months of the
posting of the packet.
Neither the Crown nor the local authority which employs them
is responsible for wrongs committed by the police. In these
circumstances, the chief officer of police for the area concerned
must be sued, and any damages and costs awarded are payable
out of police funds.
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