Royal Commissions | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Royal Commissions, or commissions of inquiry, are part of the executive arm of some Commonwealth governments that are rooted in the British parliamentary system. Their main function is to inform the government and often to deal with broad topics of social, cultural, or economic importance. The reports of Royal Commissions, whether interim or final, are tabled before a nation's parliament and regularly released as parliamentary papers.

In the United Kingdom a Royal Commission consists of three or more (usually five) Commissioners, including the Lord Chancellor, who are privy counselors appointed by letters patent to perform certain functions on the queen's behalf (United Kingdom Parliament 2003). Canadian or Australian counterparts sometimes produce minority reports that are more significant than the majority findings (Canadian Press Newswire 1996).

The 1868 Inquiries Act in Canada initiated a process by which Royal Commissions could be appointed by the cabinet to carry out full and impartial investigations of specific national problems. The terms of reference for the commission and the powers and names of the commissioners are stated officially in an order-in-council. The findings are reported to the cabinet and the prime minister for appropriate action. The names of commissions usually refer to the chair or commissioners. An example is the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters, and Sciences, which was named the Massey Commission after Vincent Massey, who chaired it from 1949 to 1950 ("Index to Federal Royal Commissions" 2003).

Australia and New Zealand have implemented Royal Commissions as a means to find out facts. As in all other jurisdictions Royal Commissions in those countries are given special powers to compel the attendance of witnesses, compel the production of documents, and give special privilege to persons who give evidence before the commission so that they cannot be prosecuted or subjected to subsequent legal actions (Fitzsimmons 2003).

Royal Commissions have been used frequently to deal with significant scientific, technological, and ethical issues. New Zealand established the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification to develop suggestions for a new regulatory structure for its agri-food (agribusiness) sector. That commission looked for possible strategies for co-managing the range of interested parties involving new corporatist and managerial dimensions of food governance (Le Heron 2003). The Australian Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Commission, which sat from 1987 to 1991, made 339 recommendations in an attempt to prevent more deaths (Fitzsimmons 2003).

Canada's 1989 Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies was established to act as the official forum for public deliberation on a complex issue. According to Francesca Scala (2002), the commission showed great promise for defining questions of infertility treatment and related scientific research questions and matters of public concern. Scala argues, however, that the commission's stance in favor of reproductive technologies resulted from the government's capitulation to the powerful interests of the biomedical industry.

At their best Royal Commissions are seen as independent bodies that allow for significant public input. They are, however, not without controversy and often are used by governments to gain breathing room on controversial issues, with costs running into the tens of millions of dollars and reports that take years to produce, with no obligation on the part of the government to act on those recommendations.

The Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies was launched in 1989 and released its final report in 1993. It received advice from 40,000 individuals and organizations with an interest in the matter (Wood 2002). After expenditures of more than $30 million the bottom line recommendation was that Canada needed laws to govern reproductive and genetic technologies (RGT). As a result the federal government placed a moratorium on nine controversial issues, including sex selection, human embryo cloning, and the buying and selling of eggs, sperm, and embryos. The resulting introduction of Bill C-47 died on the on the order table when the 1997 election was called. The second attempt to create RGT laws, Bill C-247, failed during its second reading in the Canadian parliament.

The Massey Commission in Canada submitted 146 recommendations under eight headings. As a result of those recommendations a federal scientific research policy was created, the National Library (now Library and Archives Canada) was created, actions were taken to create the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and additional resources were provided to support universities as well as students. The impact of the commission's recommendations continues to affect research communities across Canada more than fifty years after the publication of its report.

The Royal Society of New Zealand considered the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification to be part of an effort "promoting excellence in science and technology" (Royal Society of New Zealand). The commission provided a forum for the submission of reports from a diverse range of sources that included the Maori Congress, Friends of the Earth, New Zealand Biotechnology Association, Human Genetic Society, Grocery Marketers Association, Quakers, Anglicans, DuPont, CarterHolt, and Greenpeace.

Despite criticism regarding costs, political diversion, and lack of direct influence on final decisions, Royal Commissions often provide vital material for long-range policy decisions and are valuable as vehicles for consciousness-raising (O'Malley 2002). Ted Hodgetts, a retired political science professor who worked on Royal Commissions, stated that it sometimes takes years to measure a commission's value, particularly if a commission deals with longer-term arrangements. However, through the process of osmosis and seepage, the ideas enter the general discourse.

Royal Commissions maintain an arm's-length distance from the government of the day and provide impartiality and great inclusively of ideas, especially for ideas and opinions that do not correspond to the dominant political ideology. They generally avoid getting bogged down in party politics, as occurred with the hearings dealing with former U.S. President Bill Clinton's involvement in the Whitewater land deal and the raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas (Canadian Press Newswire 1996). Their usefulness in dealing with complex societal, scientific, technological, and ethical issues probably will continue far into the future.

Bioethics Committees and Commissions;; Enquete Commissions.

Harrison, Barry. (2002). "A Comparative Examination and Assessment of National Study Commissions (Canada, United States)." Ph.D. diss., West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV.

Le Heron, Richard (2003). "Creating Food Futures: Reflections on Food Governance Issues in New Zealand's Agri-Food Sector." Journal of Rural Studies 19(1): 111–125.

Scala, Francesca. (2002). "Experts, Non-Experts, and Policy Discourse: A Case Study of the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies." Ph.D. diss. Carleton University, Ontario, Canada.

Canadian Press Newswire. (1996). "Litigation Slows Inquiries, Raising Questions about Their Effectiveness: Instead of Giving Answers, Some Royal Commissions Create Questions." Available at http://www.dialogweb.com/servlet/logon? Mode=1

Fitzsimmons, Hamish. (2003). "Royal Commission Effectiveness Questioned." ABC Online. Available at http://www.abc.net.au.

"Index to Federal Royal Commissions." National Library of Canada. Available at http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/7/6/g6-120-e.html .

O'Malley, Martin. (2002). "An Inquiry into Inquiries." CBC News Online. Available at http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/backgrou nd/royal_commissions.html.

Royal Society of New Zealand. (2003). "The Royal Commission on Genetic Modification." Available at http://www.rsnz.govt.nz/.

United Kingdom Parliament. (2003). "Royal Commissions." Available at http://www.parliament.the-stationary-of fice.co.uk/pa/ld.htm.

Wood, Owen. (2002). "Laws: Reproductive Technologies." CBC News Online. Available at http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/backgrou nd.html.

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