What is Royal Assent

Royal Assent is the name for the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves an act of his, her or their nation's parliament, thus making it a law or letting it be promulgated as law. In the vast majority of contemporary monarchies, this act is considered to be little more than a formality; even in those nations which still permit their ruler to withhold the Royal Assent (such as the United Kingdom, Norway, and Liechtenstein), the monarch almost never does so, save in a dire political emergency or upon the advice of his or her government. While the power to withhold Royal Assent was once exercised often in European monarchies, it is exceedingly rare in the modern, democratic political atmosphere that has developed there since the 18th century.

Royal Assent is sometimes associated with elaborate ceremonies. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the sovereign may appear personally in the House of Lords or may appoint Lords Commissioners, who announce that Royal Assent has been granted at a ceremony held at the Palace of Westminster. However, Royal Assent is usually granted less ceremonially by letters patent. In other nations, such as Australia, the governor-general merely signs the bill. In Canada, the governor general may give assent either in person at a ceremony held in the Senate, or by a written declaration notifying Parliament of his/her agreement to the bill. (It is not actually necessary for the governor general to sign the bill in Canada; his/her signature is merely an attestation in that country.) In each case, the parliament must be apprised of the granting of assent. Two methods are available: the sovereign's representatives may grant assent in the presence of both houses of parliament; alternatively, each house may be notified separately, usually by the speaker of that house.