In the Government of the United Kingdom, the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery is a senior civil servant who is the head of the Crown Office.
Contents
The Crown Office, a section of the Ministry of Justice, has custody of the Great Seal of the Realm, and has certain administrative functions in connection with the courts and the judicial process, as well as functions relating to the electoral process for House of Commons elections, to the keeping of the Roll of the Peerage, and to the preparation of royal documents such as warrants required to pass under the Royal Sign Manual, fiats, letters patent, etc.
Duties
Since 1885 the office of Clerk of the Crown in Chancery has been combined with that of Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department (now the Ministry of Justice).
All formal royal documents (such as warrants to be signed by the monarch; letters patent, both those that are signed by the Queen herself and those that are approved by warrant; and royal charters) are prepared by the Crown Office.
The Crown Office is also responsible for sealing with the Great Seal of the Realm all documents that need to pass under that seal, once the authority for the use of the seal is signified by the Sovereign (authorization to use the Seal is granted either by the monarch signing a warrant that approves the draft text of letters patent, directs that they be prepared and authorizes them to be sealed and issued; or by the Sovereign directly signing the letters patent that are to pass under the great seal, as is necessary in some cases, such in the case letters patent that grant Royal Assent to bills passed by Parliament and in the cases of instruments of consent relating to royal marriages).
The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery discharges his functions regarding the use of the Great Seal and the preparation of royal warrants, letters patent, etc., under the direction of the Lord Chancellor, who is the keeper of the Great Seal of the Realm.
The Crown Office is also responsible for maintaining and updating the Roll of the Peerage. The Secretary of State for Justice is the keeper of the Peerage Roll, and his duties in that regard are daily discharged by a Registrar of the Peerage and a Deputy Registrar, who work within the Crown Office and are therefore under the supervision of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. The duties of the Ministry of Justice regarding the keeping and maintenance of the Roll of the Peerage are discharged in collaboration with the Garter King of Arms and Lord Lyon King of Arms, regarding their respective heraldic jurisdictions. The Crown Office also compiles the Official Roll of the Baronetage.
The Crown Office also has duties relating to the elections for the House of Commons. The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery initiates a parliamentary election in a constituency by sending an election writ to the returning officer of the constituency, and historically received all ballot papers and ballot stubs after the election is complete though they are now kept locally by the registration officer for each area (and retained for a year).
The Clerk issues election writs to all constituencies whenever the Queen makes a proclamation summoning a new parliament; and he issues an election writ to a specific constituency whenever that constituency's seat is certified as vacant. The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery also prepares a Return Book, listing the names of all those who are returned as members of the House of Commons in a general election, and delivers that book to the Clerk of the House of Commons on the first day of a new parliament. The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery also formally acquaints the Clerk of the House of Commons of the name of MPs returned in a by-election.
List of Clerks of the Crown in Chancery
Names in parentheses are those of individuals granted the office of Clerk of the Crown in Chancery in reversion after a previous holder of that office or fellow grantee, but did not in fact hold the office; dates overlap because at various points there was more than one holder of the office at a certain time.