Changing the Rules of Succession to the Throne

Abstract:     
The British Government is considering changing the rules of succession to the Crown to remove discrimination against women and Catholics. This article discusses the consequences of this proposal for the 'Realms', being the other fifteen countries of which the Queen is Sovereign. It discusses the relevance of the Statute of Westminster and whether parliamentary assent of the Realms is required. It also analyses the impact of such a change on a number of Realms, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It considers whether the British changes would automatically affect who becomes Sovereign in these Realms, or whether each Realm would have to change its own laws. In those Realms that are federations, consideration is also given to the source of constitutional power to make such legislative changes.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 27

Keywords: succession to throne, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Tuvalu, Antigua, Statute of Westminster, Crown, Queen, discrimination, Catholics, Commonwealth of Nations, abdication, Realms, federations, divisibility of Crown

JEL Classification: K10, K30

Accepted Paper Series