I recently finished Anne Twomey’s The Veiled Sceptre, a book that examines the ‘reserve powers’ of the head of state (most of which are exercised in Canada by the King’s vice-regal representatives, the Governor General and Lieutenant Governors).
The book is something of a masterpiece. Published in 2018, and authored by one of the world’s leading experts on the Crown in Westminster-based systems, it is an exemplary comparative exploration of the various (and relatively few) areas of discretionary authority enjoyed by the head of state/vice-regal representatives in parliamentary systems.
Naturally it draws much from the United Kingdom, where the constitutional evolution from absolute monarch to constitutional monarchy and representative democracy ushered in many of the constitutional conventions, customs, and practices that dictate when the head of state can summon or dissolve Parliament, appoint chief ministers (the Prime Minister), heed or reject advice, dismiss governments, refuse royal assent, and appoint or dismiss vice-regal representatives in the other realms.
But the book offers in depth exploration of the older realms of the Commonwealth (Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) and many case illustrations from other (current and former) Commonwealth countries and countries with similar parliamentary systems. In all the book provides comparative evidence from roughly 40 countries, examining these various reserve powers in considerable depth while noting the different ways written (usually legal) and unwritten (political) rules surrounding their use have developed in different countries.
Deeply empirical and descriptive, Twomey’s book provides the contours of scholarly and expert debates over the status of reserve powers, the degree of discretion enjoyed by the head of state/vice-regal representatives, and the controlling conventions at stake - but the book generally avoids definitive answers where disagreement exists and generally leaves normative/prescriptive statements out altogether. The result is a book that is a tremendously useful resource for scholars, one which might provide a fruitful foundation for future studies to engage in more direct theory-building and efforts to advance constitutional reform.
At nearly 900 pages, it is a heavy tome, but one I’ll be revisiting frequently as I plow ahead with my own book manuscript on Canada’s unwritten constitution.
Thank you for ploughing through this tome. Your review succinct and somewhat encouraging, as it informs us mortals that serious people are thinking about important constitutional issues and generally keeping an eye on things.
"The Liberal Party held a minority government in the House of Commons, Governor General Mary Simon had some power to enforce the Constitution dealing with a minority government where she is NOT obliged to accept the legal advice of the MOJ however I never received a reply and the NDP-Liberal confidence and supply agreement was in place the next month, the GG was now obliged to accept the advice of the PM/MOJ."
http://fundamentaljustice.com/current-problems-with-responsible-government/