Great Seal - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition great-seal

Definition :

Great Seal [clavis regni,Lat.], the emblem of sovereignty, introduced by Edward the Confessor. It is held by the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper for the time being and may not be taken out of the country. By Art. 24 of the Union between England and Scotland (5 Anne, c. 8) it was provided that there should be one Great Seal for the United Kingdom, to be used for sealing writs to summon the Parliament, and for sealing treaties with foreign states and all public acts of state which concern the United Kingdom, and in all other matters relating to England, as the Great Seal of England was then used; and that a seal in Scotland should be kept and made use of in all things relating to private rights or grants, which had usually passed the Great Seal of Scotland, and which only concern offices, grants, commissions, and private right within Scotland. On the Union between Great Britain and Ireland no express provision was made by any of the Articles of the Union as to the establishing one Great Seal for the United Kingdom; but various acts as to the summoning of Parliament, etc., were required to be done under the Great Seal of Ireland; and by s. 3 f the Acts of Union, 39 & 40 Geo. 3, c. 67 (British), and 40 Geo. 3, c. 38 (Irish), it was enacted that the Great Seal of Ireland may, if his Majesty shall so think fit, after the Union, be used in like manner as before the Union (except where it is otherwise provided by the Articles of Union), within that part of the United Kingdom called Ireland. See Great Seal Acts, 1880 and 1884. See now IRELAND and statutes there cited. As to forging these seals, see Forgery Act, 1913, s. 5. Consult Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors, Intro.; Wyon's Great Seals of England.

His Majesty's Seal of Scotland is in the custody of a principal Secretary of State, lately the Secretary for Scotland, by (English) Secretaries of State Act, 1926 (16 & 17 Geo. 5, c. 18).