ORDER IN COUNCIL, in Great Britain, an order issued by the sovereign on the advice of the privy council, or more usually on the advice of a few selected members thereof. It is the modern equivalent of the mediaeval ordinance and of the proclamation so frequently used by the Tudor and Stuart sover eigns. In practice it is only issued on the advice of ministers of the Crown, who are, of course, responsible to parliament for their action in the matter. Orders in council were first issued during the 18th century, and their legality has sometimes been called in question. Consequently in several cases parliament has subse quently passed acts of indemnity to protect the persons responsi ble for issuing them, and incidentally to assert its own authority. At the present time the principle seems generally accepted that orders in council may be issued on the strength of the royal pre rogative, but they must not seriously alter the law of the land.
The most celebrated instance of the use of orders in council was in 1807 when Great Britain was at war with France. Orders in council are used to regulate the matters which need immediate at tention on the death of one sovereign and the accession of another.
In addition to these and other orders issued by the sovereign by virtue of his prerogative, there is another class of orders in council, viz., those issued by the authority of an Act of parlia
ment, many of which provide thus for carrying out their pro visions. At the present day orders in council are extensively used by the various administrative departments of the government, who act on the strength of powers conferred upon them by some Act of parliament. They are largely used for regulating the details of local government and matters concerning the navy and the army, while a new bishopric is sometimes founded by an order in coun cil. They are also employed to regulate the affairs of the crown colonies, and the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, the viceroy of India, the governor-general of Canada, and other representatives of the sovereign may issue orders in council under certain conditions.
In times of emergency the use of orders in council is indis pensable to the executive. The Regulation of the Forces Act 1871 empowers the government in a time of emergency to take pos session of the railway system by the issue of such an order; and during the World War the use of orders in council was frequent.