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Re:Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump by zarzavat on Thursday March 30, 2023 @10:55PM (#35381919)
Just to clarify. The King of the UK is above criminal law. The monarch of the UK cannot be arrested or charged with an offence, or be personally involved in criminal proceedings.

That is similar to the immunity given to the sitting US President. What is different is that monarch is not really expected to obey the law either. For example, the Prime Minister was fined for illegally not wearing a seatbelt. If the king didn’t wear a seatbelt, it would not be a big deal - the royal family freely ignore traffic laws (and more serious laws) without consequences. Queen Elizabeth did agree to start paying taxes, but there was never any suggestion that she be compelled to pay taxes, merely that it would be the right thing to do.

Re:Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump by michaelbarton on Thursday March 30, 2023 @11:41PM (#35382239)
All good points. A small note though I believe the Queen started paying taxes in exchange for the state’s help rebuilding Windsor caste after the 92 fire. So seems more quid pro quo than something she felt was the right thing to do.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Windsor_Castle_fire

Re:Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump by youngtaff on Friday March 31, 2023 @03:05AM (#35383655)
Still didn’t pay inheritance tax on her personal wealth though

There are also all the laws the monarch / monarch’s lawyers interfered with e.g. police can’t enter Sandringham Estate without an invite, leaseholders on the Duchy of Cornwall are excluded from buying their freehold

Re:Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump by mulmen on Saturday April 01, 2023 @02:36AM (#35397756)
Nobody cares until to revolt. You’re centuries behind any other democracy.
Re:Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump by youngtaff on Saturday April 01, 2023 @03:54AM (#35398203)
Indeed
Re:Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump by youngtaff on Saturday April 01, 2023 @03:54AM (#35398201)
Funny how some people down vote facts…
Re:Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump by jameshart on Friday March 31, 2023 @12:55AM (#35382759)
On the flip side... England did actually arrest, try and convict the King once. Also did the same to an ex-queen, in Lady Jane Grey. After first having un-queened her, which is also a thing that cannot be done.

The thing about Britain's constitutional arrangements is that there are many things which 'can't' be done, which it turns out simply 'aren't' done.

Re:Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump by brewdad on Friday March 31, 2023 @02:25AM (#35383399)
So very similar to the US then. It's not that an incoming Governor of the opposition party can't be stripped of executive power it's just that no one had done it until recently.
Re:Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump by DanHulton on Friday March 31, 2023 @02:45AM (#35383531)
I mean, that's really true of any sort of law or political arrangement. They can all be broken or ignored. To mangle a quote, the law isn't power - power is power.
Re:Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump by touristtam on Friday March 31, 2023 @01:07AM (#35382838)
This short article gives a better explanation than I could ever give at this hour of the morning: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/14/what-does-qu...

What is sovereign immunity?

Sovereign immunity is a centuries-old doctrine dictating that the monarch cannot be prosecuted or subject to civil legal action under the law. Its origin lies in doctrine and convention, rather than statute, and there is no law setting out the rules underpinning the concept.

It stems partly from the medieval concept that the monarch is the source of justice, and can therefore do no wrong. It also relies on an argument that because the courts belong to the Queen she cannot be compelled to appear in them, since she would, in effect, be prosecuting herself.

Since at least 1800, the monarch has also had a legally distinct private persona, created to allow them to have independent wealth and property that could be inherited by their children. However, the lines between the two are somewhat blurred, and sovereign immunity has typically been interpreted to apply to both the public and private identities of the monarch.

Re:Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump by kzrdude on Friday March 31, 2023 @04:44AM (#35384320)
That the king is above criminal law does not directly dispute the Magna Carta thread of this conversation.

We take it for granted now, but it was a beginning of constitutional order - king and government should follow certain laws and rules for how to run the country. And the UK is after all a constitutional monarchy, no longer at mercy to the whims of an autocratic monarch.

Re:Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump by thisGuyFlicks on Friday March 31, 2023 @07:57AM (#35385693)
You really think anyone in the royal family has ever done anything because "it would be the right thing to do"?