A British newspaper investigation Guardian More than 160 UK statutes grant Queen Elizabeth II special immunity. According to the survey, based on official documents and an analysis of the law, the monarch would be exempt from taxes and comply with everything from environmental protection rules to labor rights.
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Called “sovereign immunity,” the secular doctrine states that criminal and civil cases cannot be brought against the monarch as head of state. It derives in part from the medieval concept that the king (or queen) was the source of justice and therefore could not go wrong.
The policy is also based on the argument that since the courts belong to the Queen, she cannot compel her to appear in court.
The inquiry found that there are more than 160 laws written since 1967 that contain clauses protecting the sovereign from legal liability. The UK government and Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the process by which immunity is registered in national law.
Most of the exceptions The move to ban Queen’s officials from registering complaints of gender and racial discrimination has been controversial. Even the most modern anti-discrimination law, the Equality Act 2010, does not protect palace staff.
Other laws exempt the monarch from enforcing various labor rights related to health and safety or from granting pensions.
The thirty-one laws prohibit police or environmental inspectors from accessing the Windsor family’s private property without the Queen’s permission to investigate crimes including animal abuse and environmental pollution. Country.
In a case first reported last year, the Queen’s lawyers secretly pressured the Queen’s private companies to be released from complying with key Scottish legislation to reduce carbon emissions.
Other clauses provide exemptions from various taxes imposed on other UK citizens or provide information to inspectors or official statistics.
In the early 1990s, Buckingham Palace admitted that the Queen did not pay income or capital gains taxes, including on her private ventures, and after heavy public criticism, she agreed to “voluntarily” pay some taxes.
However, in 2013, Scottish ministers passed the conditions that Queen Elizabeth would not be taxed. Partially exempted from land purchase, disposal in landfills and air travel taxes.
Constitutional legal experts consulted by the Guardian warned that the legal privileges granted to the Queen undermined the idea that everyone is equal before the law. On the other hand, they explained that as a monarch, he has both public and private legal personality.
According to the public, Elizabeth II is a public figure serving as head of state and cannot sell historic properties such as Buckingham Palace or the royal art collection.
As a private individual, Elizabeth Windsor could buy and sell investments and assets like any other citizen.
Donal McCabe, the Queen’s communications secretary, argued that UK law generally did not apply to the government and the monarchy. “The principles of Crown enforcement are long established and widely known,” the official said.
The doctrine of “sovereign immunity” is not unique to the UK: many countries have laws or traditions that prevent the head of state from taking legal action. Immunities Given to the current Queen, in most cases, will be transferred to Prince Charles when he becomes King.
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