thereon, and are issued to the several branches of the government specially concerned, for the purpose of giving effect to the same. The attendance of seven privy councillors at the Quorum. least, with one of the clerks of the council, by whose signature alone its acts are attested, used to be regarded (by custom) as necessary to constitute a council for ordinary purposes of state. But since the death of the Prince Consort, a different practice has prevailed. Within three weeks of that melancholy event, the state of public affairs rendered a meeting of the Privy Council indispensable. Out of deference to the feelings of her Majesty, a council was convened, on January 6, 1862, at which three cabinet ministers only were present; namely, the lord president of the council, the home secretary, and the secretary for the colonies. Since then Privy Councils have not infrequently been held, at which fewer than seven members have been present, and these consisting solely of cabinet ministers.j It has been usual, however, that some members of the Privy Council, in addition to those who have seats in the cabinet, should be summoned to attend. But this custom is not founded upon any principle, and can be dispensed with if necessary. No privy councillor presumes to attend upon any meeting of the Privy Council (or, of a committee of council) unless he is summoned, in her Majesty's name, by the lord president, acting under the authority of the prime minister. Upon ordinary occasions, summonses might be sent to the ministers, the great officers of the household, and to the archbishop of Canterbury. Two instances have been cited, of the Duke of Somerset and of the Earl of Albemarle, who, at different times, held the office of master of the horse, and retained the same for several weeks after the resignation of the ministries of which they formed a part, and Corresp. Will. IV. with Earl Grey, v. 1, p. 36. Escott's England, v. 2, p. 113. Committees of council. yet ceased at this juncture to attend at meetings of the Privy Council; to which they had previously been summoned, by virtue of their position in the royal household.k On extraordinary occasions, the ministers determine to whom the summonses shall be addressed. The whole council is rarely convoked; the last time it was called together was on November 23, 1839, to receive her Majesty's declaration of her intended marriage. On this occasion eighty-three privy councillors were present.' The issue of orders of council under Acts of Parliament, i.e. concerning vaccination, or the cattle disease, is provided for in the particular statute, which usually fixes the number of privy councillors to be a quorum for such purposes, which is usually any two or more' of the lords of the council.m All the ancient functions of the Privy Council are now performed by committees, with the exception of the formal acts which are constitutionally required to emanate from that body, and which proceed from the authority of her Majesty in council." The acts of these committees are designated as those of the lords of the council, to distinguish them from 'orders in council,' which are made by the sovereign at a meeting of the Privy Council. The persons to compose such committees are usually selected by the lord president of the council, who is responsible for appointing and summoning the same, for receiving their reports, and submitting them for the ratification of the Privy Council. By immemorial practice, no privy councillor has a right to attend a committee of the Privy Council without a summons from the Queen.° Ld. J. Russell in Mir. of Parl. Act of 1877. 1835, p. 11. Com. Pap. 1847-8, v. 18, p. 299. Grey, Early Years of Prince Consort, ch. xi. Medical Practitioners' Act of 1858. Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act of 1867. Destructive Insects n Macqueen, Privy Coun. 674, n. See Acts 40 & 41 Vict. c. 41, and Ib. c. 48, sec. 44, and c. 69. • Mr. Reeve's Evid. Rep. Lords Com. on Appellate Jurisdiction. Lords Papers, 1872, v. 9, pp. 121–153. investiga The lords of the council' constitute a high court Court of of record for the investigation of all offences against the tion. government, and of such other matters, chiefly of an extraordinary nature, as may be brought before them. They are empowered to administer oaths, and to commit offenders to any of the Queen's prisons, on their own warrant, for safe custody, in order to bring them to trial before the ordinary tribunals: their jurisdiction in cases of treason being the only secret criminal procedure now known in England. But their power extends only to enquiry, not to punishment, and persons committed by their order are entitled to habeas corpus, in like manner as if they had been committed by an ordinary magis trate.P It is competent to the sovereign in council to receive Colonial petitions and appeals from India and the colonies, and appeals. to refer these, or any matter whatever, to the consideration of a committee of the Privy Council, upon whose report the decision of the sovereign in council is pronounced. Such a reference may be made upon any petition or claim of right, or for the redress of any grievance which does not come within the jurisdiction of other courts or departments of state. If the matter be one that is properly cognizable by a legal tribunal, it would be referred to the judicial committee of the Privy Council, which by the Act 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 41, in addition to its ordinary functions as a court of appeal from the decisions of courts of law, is empowered (by section 4) to consider any matters whatsoever that the sovereign shall think fit to refer to it.a But it has been decided that this clause will not justify the reference to the judicial committee of anything whatsoever that could not be properly entertained by, or come before, the Queen in council.r The committee, for example, could not advise upon P Cox, British Commonwealth, p. 390. 127. See Bowyer, Const. Law, p. Com. p. 47. And Hans. D. v. 184, Hans. D. v. 209. pp. 977, 984. Judicial commit. tees. questions of general or political policy, for that is the especial function of the cabinet council. Neither could it advise in criminal cases, upon which no appeal, properly so called, is allowed by law. The judicial committee of the Privy Council is the supreme court of maritime jurisdiction, and the tribunal wherein the crown exercises its judicial supremacy in ecclesiastical cases. It also has jurisdiction in appeals from all colonial courts. Since the establishment of responsible government in most of the British colonies, the supreme interpretation and application of the law upon appeal to the mother-country is wellnigh the sole remaining exercise of power retained by the crown over the dependencies of the empire; and it is one which the colonies have hitherto regarded with the greatest respect and appreciation." But the several lords president 'have uniformly declined to recommend her Majesty to refer abstract questions of law to the judicial committee." The appellate jurisdiction of her Majesty in council exists for the benefit of the colonies, not for that of the mother country. It secures to every subject of the Queen throughout the empire his right to claim redress from the throne. It provides a remedy in certain cases not falling within the jurisdiction of ordinary courts of justice; it removes causes from the influence of local prepossessions; it affords the means of maintaining the uniformity of the law of England in those colonies which derive the great body of their law from Great Britain; and it enables suitors, if they think fit, to obtain a decision in the last resort from the highest judicial authority and legal capacity existing in the metropolis.' In any colony which possesses an efficient court of appeal, it may be rarely necessary to resort to this supreme tribunal. But even so its controlling power, though dormant, is felt by every judge in the empire, because he knows that his decisions are liable to be submitted to it. Under Stephen, Hist. of Criminal Law of Eng. 1883, v. 1, ch. x. Act 7 & 8 Vict. c. 69. For rules regulating appeals from colonial courts to her Majesty in council, see Macpherson, Privy Coun. Practice, ed. 1873, p. 69. Victoria Papers presented to Parl. in 1874, No. 81. Macpherson's Prac. Jud. Come. ed. 1873; Forsyth, Const. Law, p. 378; Sir R. Palmer, Hans. D. v. 185, p. 855. Mr. Gladstone, Ib. v. 200, p. 1905. Ld. Westbury, Ib. v. 202, p. 1284. Atty.-gen. Collier, Ib. v. 208, p. 930. Votes and Proceedings Leg. Ass. of Victoria, 2nd sess. 1866, v. 1, c. No. 8, p. 13. W mittees. such circumstances we can easily understand the singular affection Judicial which has been exhibited by British colonists everywhere for the comretention of the right of appeal to the Queen in council. It has been decided, by the judicial committee of the Privy Council, in 1876, that an Act of the Quebec legislature which transfers the right of trying election petitions to the judges of the superior court from the legislative assembly of the province, in declaring that 'such judgment shall not be susceptible of appeal,' was not an infringement of the prerogative right of the crown to hear appeals, which right cannot be taken away, except by express words. Because it was evident, from the peculiar nature of the Act (which had been assented to by the crown) as affecting the rights and privileges of the legislative assembly independent of the crown, that it could not be taken to have been the intention of the legislature to have created a tribunal which should be liable to have its decisions reviewed upon an appeal to the crown, under its prerogative.* The South Africa Union Act, 1877, sec. 51, expressly provides that no Act of the Union Parliament shall be construed to abridge the right of appeal to the Queen in council from any judgment of the general court of appeal to be hereafter established in South Africa. Moreover it has been decided, by the judicial committee of the Privy Council, that notwithstanding the 47th section of the Canada Supreme Court Act of 1875, which provides that the judgment of the said court shall in all cases be final,' the judicial committee could, in any proper case, advise her Majesty to allow an appeal to the Privy Council from a judgment of the supreme court. The attorney and solicitor-general are bound to attend at meetings of committees of the Privy Council when required, as assessors, to advise the committee on points of law, or to act as counsel for the crown. The privy councillors not ordinarily of the committee sometimes receive a summons to attend on a special occasion. The clerk or registrar of the Privy Council attends every committee." By the Supreme Court of Judicature Act of 1873, as amended in 1874, the crown is empowered by order |