“ Such a blend of advisory, executive and judicial power could exist only in a simple condition of affairs, and therefore it was to be expected that as government became more settled, and so more complicated, a separation of powers would inevitably follow. ”

“ At this period in addition to the great officers of state the judges and a number of bishops appear among the members. One of the most important duties of the council was to advise the Crown in matters of legislation. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, ordinances in subordinate matters appear to have been made regularly by the king in council and accepted as legal by parliament and by the judges. In early parliamentary days it was also part of the council’s duty to put into legislative form the petitions sent up by the Commons. ”

“ In appeals under the Clergy Discipline Acts three bishops sit as assessors. In colonial Admiralty appeals two nautical assessors attend. These assessors are merely technical advisers, and have no part in any decision. Appeals also lie from consular courts and prize courts. The decisions of ecclesiastical courts are subject to review by the committee, the sovereign being the “supreme governor” of the Church, but no appeal is competent where the case is one for the exercise of the bishop’s discretion. ”

“ As a rule they lie as of right when the value of the matter at issue is of a certain amount (the amount varying according to the appeal rules of the different foreign possessions) and in a few other cases. Recent legislation, at the instance of the colonies, has to some extent further restricted the right to appeal. Appeals lie at the discretion of the committee on leave being obtained by petition for special leave to appeal. All proceedings are by petition (see Petition) which is addressed to the Crown in council in the first instance. ”