Written evidence submitted by John Ellery
Gillingham
1. I was quite surprised that the Cabinet Manual
does not appear to include any mention of the Duchy of Cornwall
and the Stannary law system which, still in place, distinguishes
Cornish law from that of England.
2. The Duke of Cornwall is Lord Paramount in
Cornwall, in the rest of the Bristish Isles this is the Queen.
In effect the Duke can be considered sovereign with the right
to call his own parliament, the Stannary Convocation. This parliament
is legislative and has the right to veto Westminster legislation,
a right that it did exercise. It last met in the 1750s, but it
has been proven in the Westminster parliament, in the latter half
of the 20th Century, that the Stannary law and parliamentary system
are still valid.
3. Various acts and court cases have proved over
the years that the Duchy is synonymous with the whole territorial
dominion of the county of Cornwall. Recently many MPs of various
backgrounds have referred to Cornwall as the Duchy of Cornwall
when discussing the number of Cornwall's MPs.
4. You should also be aware of the fact that
until the 17th/18th century Cornwall was still considered one
of the constituent nations of the British Isles. On all maps up
to around 1550 Cornwall appears as a nation alongside Wales, England,
Scotland and Ireland. Many Acts of parliament refer to "Anglia
et Cornubia" just like today we see "England and Wales".
5 January 2011
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