The San Francisco call., 1905-05-15
HOW RULERS
GO TO
LAW.
II ING EDWARD, like most Euro
pean sovereigns, is out of the
reach of what is known as COM

~ lNG EDWAhD, Ike most Euro
pean sovereigns, is out of the
reach of what is known as COM
mon law; that is, the law which
is binding on every subject of the
crown.
Special laws control the action Of
the sovereign, among others being one
which forbids him to take an action
in the civil courts against any Of his
subjects. His Majesty. however. can
institute criminal proceedings against
any person, but if he does so his evil
dence has to be taken on commission;
that is, it must be read out in court
and sworn to- as being true by some
official, for under no circumstances
can the sovereign ever apear person
ally in any court of law. Three years
ago King Edward prosecuted a man
for forging his name to a check
drawn on Coutts' Bank, when his
Matesty's evidence was taken on COM
mission. This is the solitary instance
of King Edward having proceeded
against subject in a criminal court,
though as Prince of Wales he ap-
peared as the plaintiff in two or three
civil actions which he was entitled
TO do, being then subject of the
crown. Any subject can take civil
action in England against the sover-
eisn by presenting to Parliament what
is known as a petition of right" in
which must be fully stated the nature
Of the petitioners claim and the evil
dence he is prepared to- support his
case with. The petition is then re-
ferred to the law lords in the House
of Lords, who decide whether the ac-
tion against the sovereign is to be
heard or not: but as a matter Of fact,
no action against the sovereign has
been taken by a subject of the British
crown for the past 100 years.
The Kaiser is not permitted to in
stitute personally any proceedings
against subject either in a civil or
criminal court and no legal action can
be taken against his imperial Majesty.
except for debt, in which case the
plaintiff must sue the Comptroller of
the Imperial Household. Not long
since wine merchant sued the Kaiser,
through the Comptroller of the House
hold, for SIS. The money was claimed
as interest due on an outstanding ac-
count, and the merchant won his case;
but as the German law DEGREES that
no costs can be given against the
Kaiser the merchant did not gain
much by winning his action.
Ii the King of Italy enters into any
litigation with subject a special
court is summoned for the hearing of
the case. The King must appear per-
sonally as witness, but he possesses
the privilege of declining TO answer
any questions put to him by counsel.
If the King wins his action the sub
ject has the right to appeal, but this
simply means that the case will be re-
tried before the same court, and most
probably will result in a confirmation
OF the original verdict.
The present King of Italy has only
once taken an action against a subject, |
which was for breach of contract i'll.
with some painting work |
that house decorator had undertaken |
to do at the royal palace, but which |
he never completed, although he had |
however. was settled out of court by /
the contractor retunding the money he |
was sued for.
The Car can be sued in the civil
courts OF Russia by any of his sub
jects, but this has not been done for
many years, for the simple reason that
the man who did SO, whether he had
End his days in Siberian prison.