Case of Proclamations

Case of Proclamations
Court	King's Bench
Decided	Michaelmas Term, 1610
Citations	[1610] EWHC KB J22 77 ER 1352 12 Co Rep 74
Transcript	Full text on Bailii
Court membership
Judges sitting	Edward Coke CJ Thomas Fleming CJ Lawrence Tanfield CB James Altham B
Keywords
Royal prerogative

The Case of Proclamations [1610] EWHC KB J22 is an English constitutional law case during the reign of King James I (1603–1625) which defined some limitations on the royal prerogative at that time. Principally, it established that the monarch could make laws only through Parliament.^[1] The judgment began to set out the principle in English law (later developed by future parliaments and other members of the judiciary in subsequent cases, for example Dr. Bonham's Case) that when a case involving an alleged exercise of prerogative power came before the courts, the courts could determine:

• whether the proclaimed prerogative existed in law and how far it extended;
• whether it had been limited by statute, and if so, in what way; and
• whether there was any requirement that the Crown pay compensation after the exercise of the prerogative.