ABSTRACT
The use of the prerogative as a source of executive power can be illustrated in cases such as BBC v Johns (1965), Laker v Department of Trade (1977) and the Malone v Metropolitan Police Commissioner (1979). Cases such as Burmah Oil v Lord Advocate (1965) and Attorney General v De Keyser’s Hotel (1920) illustrate that the only means of curtailing this prerogative power is by statute (in accordance with the concept of parliamentary sovereignty). This is not to say, however, that there has always been a ‘Royal’ (in the sense of a Monarch’s personal) involvement in the use of the prerogative up to recent times. A consideration of the cases of Bates’ Case (1606), Prohibitions Del Roy (1607), the Case of Proclamations (1611), Darnel’s Case (1627), R v Hampden (1637), Thomas v Sorrell (1674), Godden v Hales (1686) illustrate the limits of the Monarch’s personal involvement in the use of the prerogative in previous centuries.
