In the exertion of lawful
prerogative, the Queen, or in this Dominion Her Governor-General –
acting in Her Name – is and ought to be absolute; that is, so far
absolute, that there is no legal authority that can either delay or
resist them.The government shares the view of Wade and Bradley, in their work Constitutional and Administrative Law (11th Ed. 1993), that "...it is not possible to give a comprehensive catalogue of prerogative powers".
We can however provide a short list of the common and prominent prerogative powers:
The Queen, or in this Dominion Her Governor-General acting in Her Name;
- may summon, prorogue, and dissolve the
House of Commons, and the Parliament,
- may appoint and dismiss what ministers,
- may fill what vacancies in the Houses of Parliament,
- may reject what bills,
- may coin what money,
- may create what peers,
- may grant what honours,
- may pardon what offences,
- may charter what companies and universities,
- may grant what monopolies and copyrights,
- may recognise what foreign states,
- may make what treaties, - Saving that the consent of the Lords is required for their domestic implementation,
- may accredit and receive what diplomats,
- may issue and withdraw what passports and visas,
- may collect what tolls,
- may publish what Orders-in-Council,
As She Pleases.
The Queen, or in this Dominion her Governor-General, has also the sole prerogative of making war and peace. For it is held by all the writers on the law of nature and nations, that the right of making war, which by nature subsisted in every individual, is given up by all private persons that enter into society, and is vested in the sovereign power.
The prerogative includes duties, not just rights. The foremost of these are the Defence of the Realm and the keeping of the Queen's Peace.
The monarch is also immune from prosecution in the courts. The logic for this is that the Queen is present in all courts and acts as the prosecuting authority in all cases criminal; she cannot therefore sue or prosecute herself nor judge her own case.