ORDERS IN, COUNCIL, orders by the sovereign with the advice of the privy council. The privy council of Groat Britain has no power to legislate, except so far as authorized to do so by parliament; but in periods of emergency it has nevertheless occasionally issued and enforced orders of a legislative kind; those who were concerned in passing, promulgating, or enforcing the orders !Testing o parliamentary protection, and taking on themselves the personal responsibility of the proceeding. In such cases an act of indemnity afterwards passed has relieved from liability those who advised the order or acted under it, and given compensation to all who suffered by its enforcement.. This course was adopted in 170 with regard to an embargo on the exportation of corn, issued in consequence of a deficient harvest and prospect of famine. An important constitu tional question was raised by the famous orders in council issued by Great Britain in 1807 and 1809, iu reprisal for Napoleon's Berlin and Milan decrees. The Berlin decree, issued on Nov. 21, 1806, declared the whole of the British islands to be in a state of block ade, and all vessels trading to them to be liable to capture by French ships. It also shut out all British vessels and produce both from France and from all the other coun tries which gave obedience to the French. A subsequent decree, issued soon afterwards, oblbred all central vessels to carry letters or certificates of origin—that is, attestations by the 'French consuls of the ports from which they had sailed, that no part of the cargo was British. Iu retaliation for the Eerlin decree, the British government issued, on .Jan. 7, 1807, an order in council, subjecting to seizure all neutral vessels trading from one hostile port in Europe to another with property belonging to an enemy. This order was at first extensively evaded, while the French made vigorous efforts to enforce the Berlin decree; the result was that new orders were issued by the British government on the 11th and 21st of Nov., 1807, declaring France and all states subject to the French to be in a state of blockade, and all vessels liable to seizure which were found to have certificates of origin on board, or which should attempt to trade with any of the ports of the world thus blockaded. Neutral vessels intended for France, or any other hostile country, were ordzred, in all cases, to touch first at some British port, and to pay custom-house dues there, after which they were in certain cases to be allowed to depart for their destination; and vessels clearing from a hostile country were similarly to touch at a British port before proceeding on their voyage. On Dee. 27, 1807, Napoleon's Milan decree was issued,
which declared the whole British dominions to be iu a state of blockade, and all coun tries were prohibited from trading with each other in any articles of British produce o manufacture. The Americans, and those of the public of Great Britain who were inter ested in the export trade, exclaimed loudly against the edicts of both powers, and legality as well as the expediency of the orders in council were called in question in pm liament. The result was that an inquiry was instituted into the effect of the orders, from which no direct result followed. But, iii the mean-time, on April 26, 1808, a ne‘t order in council was issued, limiting the blockade to France, Holland, a part of Ger many, and the north of Italy, and the order which condemned vessels which bad certifi' cotes of origin on board was rescinded. Subsequent orders introduced a system of furnishing licenses to vessels to proceed to hostile ports after having first touched and paid custom-house dues at a British port; no fewer than 16,000 of these licenses are said to have been granted. The of these orders has been called in question on the ground that they were more of a legislative than an executive character, in so far as a fictitious blockade, where there is no blockading force present, is contrary to the law of nations; it has been defended on the ground that they were issued in execution of the royal prerogative of declaring and conducting war. They are generally believed to have added to the, eneral distress, and the check on the progress of manufactures produce I by Napoleon's decrees; but, on the other hand, it has been maintained that they were essential to the effective prosecution of the war.
There are various matters connected with trade and the revenue as to which orders in council have been authorized by statute; parliament, in fact, delegating its legislative authority to the queen in council. For example, the international copyright act, 7 and 8 Viet. c. 12, contains a provision for empowering the crown, by order in council, to extend the privileges of British copyright to works first published in any state which gives a like privilege to the productions of this country.