Petitions of Right Act 1860

Infobox UK Legislation
short_title=Petitions of Right Act 1860
parliament=United Kingdom Parliament
long_title=An Act to amend the law relating to Petitions of Right, to simplify the Proceedings, and to make Provisions for the Costs thereof.
statute_book_chapter=23 & 24 Vict. c.34
introduced_by=
territorial_extent=England and Wales; [Anon.] (1911) " [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Petition Petition] ", "Encyclopaedia Britannica"] Ireland [Petitions of Right (Ireland) Act 1873, 36 & 37 Vict. c. 69]
royal_assent=3 July 1860
commencement=3 July 1860
repeal_date=1 January 1948
amendments=—
related_legislation=—
repealing_legislation=Crown Proceedings Act 1947, s. 39, Sch. 2
status=Repealed
original_text=
activeTextDocId=
legislation_history=
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The Petitions of Right Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict., c. 34) was an Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom that codified and simplified the process of obtaining a petition of right.

Procedure

The Act preserved the right to proceed at common law, but gave an alternative remedy. The procedure was regulated by the 1860 Act, and in England also by rules made under the Act on the 1st of February 1862. The petition was left with the Home Secretary "for the consideration of His Majesty", who if he thought fit granted his "fiat" that right be done. The "fiat" was sealed in the Home Office and issued to the applicant who filed it in the central office of the High Court of Justice, and a sealed copy was served on the Treasury Solicitor, with a demand for a response on behalf of the Crown. The subsequent proceedings, including those as to disclosing relevant documents followed as far as possible those in an ordinary action. A judgment in favour of the applicant was equivalent to a judgment of "amoveas manus ouster le main".

Costs were payable to and by the Crown. A petition of right was usually tried in the Chancery or King's Bench divisions but where the subject-matter of the petition arose out of the exercise of belligerent rights on behalf of the Crown, or would be heard in a prize court if the matter were in dispute between private persons, the applicant could at his option start his petition in the Admiralty Court. The Lord Chancellor could direct the hearing of petitions of right in that court even when not started there. [Naval Prize Act 1864, 27 & 28 Vict. c. 25, s.52]

Territorial extent

The Act applied only to England and Wales but was extended to Ireland by the Petitions of Right (Ireland) Act 1873 [36 & 37 Vict. c. 69]

Repeal

The Crown Proceedings Act 1947 ultimately allowed claims to be brought againt the Crown as against any other party and throughout the UK, rendering the Act and process obsolete. [Bradley & Ewing (2003)]

References

Bibliography

* cite book | author= [Anon.] | title=The Public General Statutes passed in the Twentythird & Twentyfourth Years of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria | pages="pp"207-214 | publisher=Eyre & Spottiswoode | location=London | year=1860
* [Anon.] (1911) " [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Petition Petition] ", "Encyclopaedia Britannica"
*cite book | author=Bradley, A.W. & Ewing, K.D. | title=Constitutional and Administrative Law | publisher=Longman | location=London | edition=13th ed. | id=ISBN 0-582-43807-1 | year=2003 , "pp"770-771