ACT OF SETTLEMENT 1700 12 AND 13 WILL 3 C 2

The Act of Settlement 1700 (ACT) is a received imperial statute that forms an active part of the constitutional architecture of the Australian Capital Territory. Mechanically, the Act establishes and regulates the succession of the sovereign of the United Kingdom, who, by virtue of Australia's constitutional arrangements, is also the sovereign of Australia and its territories. It does this by designating the Protestant descendants of Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess dowager of Hanover, as the exclusive line of succession to the Crown.

The instrument performs several critical legislative operations. First, under Section 1, it limits the succession of the imperial crown and dignity of the realms to Princess Sophia and the heirs of her body, being Protestants. This limitation operates to bypass other potential claimants in the royal lineage who do not meet the specified religious criteria. Second, under Section 2, it establishes an absolute bar against anyone who holds communion with the Church of Rome, professes the Catholic religion, or marries a Catholic, stripping such persons of their capacity to inherit or hold the Crown. Third, the Act dictates constitutional limits on the Crown's power. Section 3 contains several structural safeguards: it mandates that the monarch must join in communion with the Church of England, restricts the nation from engaging in wars to defend territories not belonging to the Crown of England without parliamentary consent, and debars foreign-born individuals from privy council membership, parliamentary office, civil or military places of trust, or Crown land grants. Additionally, it prevents the Crown from using its prerogative of pardon under the Great Seal to frustrate parliamentary impeachments. Finally, Section 4 ratifies and confirms the laws and statutes of the realm as the birthright of the people.

Australian Capital Territory Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 Republication No 1 Republication date: 5 July 2002 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel

Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au About this republication The republished law This is a republication of the Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 as in force on 5 July 2002. It includes any commencement, repeal or expiry affecting the republished law and any amendment made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 (Editorial changes). The legislation history and amendment history of the republished law are set out in endnotes 3 and 4. Kinds of republications The Parliamentary Counsel’s Office prepares 2 kinds of republications of ACT laws (see the ACT legislation register at www.legislation.act.gov.au):  authorised republications to which the Legislation Act 2001 applies  unauthorised republications. The status of this republication appears on the bottom of each page. Editorial changes The Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 authorises the Parliamentary Counsel to make editorial amendments and other changes of a formal nature when preparing a law for republication. Editorial changes do not change the effect of the law, but have effect as if they had been made by an Act commencing on the republication date (see Legislation Act 2001, s 115 and s 117). The changes are made if the Parliamentary Counsel considers they are desirable to bring the law into line, or more closely into line, with current legislative drafting practice. This republication includes amendments made under part 11.3 (see endnote 1). Uncommenced provisions and amendments If a provision of the republished law has not commenced or is affected by an uncommenced amendment, the symbol U appears immediately before the provision heading. The text of the uncommenced provision or amendment appears only in the last endnote. Modifications If a provision of the republished law is affected by a current modification, the symbol M appears immediately before the provision heading. The text of the modifying provision appears in the endnotes. For the legal status of modifications, see Legislation Act 2001, section 95. Penalties The value of a penalty unit for an offence against this republished law at the republication date is— (a) if the person charged is an individual—$100; or (b) if the person charged is a corporation—$500.

Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au Australian Capital Territory Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 Contents Page 1 The Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess dowager of Hanover, daughter of the late Queen of Bohemia, daughter of King James the First, to inherit after the King and the Princess Anne, in default of issue of the said princess and his Majesty, respectively; and the heirs of her body, being protestants 4 2 The persons inheritable by this Act, holding communion with the church of Rome, incapacitated as by the former Act, to take the oath at their coronation 5 3 Further provisions for securing the religion, laws and liberties of these realms 5 4 The laws and statutes of the realm confirmed 6 Endnotes 1 About the endnotes 8 2 Abbreviation key 8

Contents Page contents 2 Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 R1 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au 3 Legislation history 9 4 Amendment history 9

Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au Australian Capital Territory Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 An Act for the further limitation of the crown and better securing the rights and liberties of the subject

Preamble page 2 Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 R1 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au Whereas in the first year of the reign of your Majesty and of our late most gracious sovereign lady Queen Mary (of blessed memory) an Act of Parliament was made intituled (An Act for declaring the rights and liberties of the subject and for settling the succession of the crown) wherein it was (amongst other things) enacted, established and declared that the crown and regal government of the kingdoms of England, France and Ireland and the dominions thereunto belonging should be and continue to your Majesty and the said late Queen during the joint lives of your Majesty and the said Queen and to the survivor and that after the decease of your Majesty and of the said Queen the said crown and regal government should be and remain to the heirs of the body of the said late Queen and for default of such issue to her royal highness the Princess Anne of Denmark and the heirs of her body and for default of such issue to the heirs of the body of your Majesty: And it was thereby further enacted that all and every person and persons that then were or afterwards should be reconciled to or shall hold communion with the see or church of Rome or should profess the popish religion or marry a papist should be excluded and are by that Act made for ever incapable to inherit, possess or enjoy the crown and government of this realm and Ireland and the dominions thereunto belonging or any part of the same or to have, use or exercise any regal power, authority or jurisdiction within the same and in all and every such case and cases the people of these realms shall be and are thereby absolved of their allegiance and that the said crown and government shall from time to time descend to, and be enjoyed by, such person or persons, being protestants, as should have inherited and enjoyed the same in case the said person or persons so reconciled, holding communion, professing or marrying as aforesaid were naturally dead. After the making of which statute and the settlement therein contained your Majesty’s good subjects who were restored to the full and free possession and enjoyment of their religion, rights and liberties by the providence of God giving success to your Majesty’s just undertakings and unwearied endeavours for that purpose had no greater temporal felicity to hope or wish for than to see a royal progeny descending from your Majesty to whom (under God) they owe their tranquillity and whose ancestors have for many years been principal assertors of the reformed religion and the liberties of

Preamble R1 Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 page 3 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au Europe and from our said most gracious sovereign lady whose memory will always be precious to the subjects of these realms. And it having since pleased Almighty God to take away our said sovereign lady and also the most hopeful Prince William Duke of Gloucester (the only surviving issue of her royal Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark) to the unspeakable grief and sorrow of your Majesty and your said good subjects who under such losses being sensibly put in mind that it standeth wholly in the pleasure of Almighty God to prolong the lives of your Majesty and of her royal Highness and to grant to your Majesty or to her royal Highness such issue as may be inheritable to the crown and regal government aforesaid by the respective limitations in the said recited Act contained do constantly implore the divine mercy for those blessings should determine. Therefore for a further provision of the succession of the crown in the protestant line we your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects the lords spiritual and temporal and commons in this present Parliament assembled do beseech your Majesty that it may be enacted and declared and be it enacted and declared by the King’s most excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal and commons in this present Parliament assembled and by the authority of the same:

Section 1 page 4 Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 R1 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au 1 The Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess dowager of Hanover, daughter of the late Queen of Bohemia, daughter of King James the First, to inherit after the King and the Princess Anne, in default of issue of the said princess and his Majesty, respectively; and the heirs of her body, being protestants The most excellent Princess Sophia Electress and Duchess dowager of Hanover daughter of the most excellent Princess Elizabeth late Queen of Bohemia daughter of our late sovereign lord King James the First of happy memory be and is hereby declared to be the next in succession in the protestant line to the imperial crown and dignity of the said realms of England, France and Ireland with the dominions and territories thereunto belonging after his Majesty and the Princess Anne of Denmark and in default of issue of the said Princess Anne and of his Majesty respectively and that from and after the deceases of his said Majesty our now sovereign lord and of her royal Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark and for default of issue of the said Princess Anne and of his Majesty respectively the crown and regal government of the said kingdoms of England, France and Ireland and of the dominions thereunto belonging with the royal state and dignity of the said realms and all honours, styles, titles, regularities, prerogatives, powers, jurisdictions and authorities to the same belonging and apertaining shall be, remain and continue to the said most excellent Princess Sophia and the heirs of her body being protestants. And thereunto the said lords spiritual and temporal and commons shall and will in the name of all the people of this realm most humbly and faithfully submit themselves, their heirs and posterities and do faithfully promise that after the deceases of his Majesty and her royal Highness and the failure of the heirs of the respective bodies to stand to maintain and defend the said Princess Sophia and the heirs of her body being protestants according to the limitation and succession of the

Section 2 R1 Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 page 5 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au crown in this Act specified and contained to the utmost of their powers with their lives and estates against all persons whatsoever that shall attempt any thing to the contrary. 2 The persons inheritable by this Act, holding communion with the church of Rome, incapacitated as by the former Act, to take the oath at their coronation Provided always and it is hereby enacted that all and every person and persons who shall or may take or inherit the said crown by virtue of the limitation of this present Act and is, are or shall be reconciled to or shall hold communion with the see or church of Rome or shall profess the popish religion or shall marry a papist shall be subject to such incapacities as in such case or cases are by the said recited Act provided, enacted and established. And that every King and Queen of this realm who shall come to and succeed in the imperial crown of this kingdom by virtue of this Act shall have the coronation oath administered to him, her or them at their respective coronations according to law and shall make, subscribe and repeat the declaration required by law. 3 Further provisions for securing the religion, laws and liberties of these realms And whereas it is requisite and necessary that some further provision be made for securing our religion, laws and liberties from and after the death of his Majesty and the Princess Anne of Denmark and in default of issue of the body of the said princess and of his Majesty respectively: Be it enacted by the King’s most excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal and commons in Parliament assembled and by the authority of the same:

Section 4 page 6 Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 R1 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au That whosoever shall hereafter come to the possession of this crown shall join in communion with the Church of England as by law established. That in case the crown and imperial dignity of this realm shall hereafter come to any person not being a native of this kingdom of England, this nation be not obliged to engage in any war for the defence of any dominions or territories which do not belong to the crown of England without the consent of Parliament. That after the said limitation shall take effect as aforesaid, no person born out of the kingdoms of England, Scotland or Ireland or the dominions thereunto belonging, although he be naturalised or made a denizen (except such as are born of English parents), shall be capable to be of the privy council or a member of either House or Parliament or to enjoy any office or place of trust either civil or military or to have any grant of lands, tenements or hereditaments from the Crown to himself or to any other or others in trust for him. That no pardon under the great seal of England be pleadable to an impeachment by the commons in Parliament. 4 The laws and statutes of the realm confirmed And whereas the laws of England are the birthright of the people thereof and all the Kings and Queens who shall ascend the throne of this realm ought to administer the government of the same according to the said laws and all their officers and ministers ought to serve them respectively according to the same: The said lords spiritual and temporal and commons do therefore further humbly pray that all the laws and statues of this realm for securing the established religion and the rights and liberties of the people thereof and all other laws and statutes of the same now in force may be ratified and confirmed.

Section 4 R1 Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 page 7 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au And the same are by his Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the said lords spiritual and temporal and commons and by authority of the same ratified and confirmed accordingly.

Endnotes 1 About the endnotes page 8 Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 R1 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au Endnotes 1 About the endnotes Amending and modifying laws are annotated in the legislation history and the amendment history. Current modifications are not included in the republished law but are set out in the endnotes. Not all editorial amendments made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 are annotated in the amendment history. Full details of any amendments can be obtained from the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office. Uncommenced amending laws and expiries are listed in the legislation history and the amendment history. These details are underlined. Uncommenced provisions and amendments are not included in the republished law but are set out in the last endnote. If all the provisions of the law have been renumbered, a table of renumbered provisions gives details of previous and current numbering. The endnotes also include a table of earlier republications. If the republished law includes penalties, current information about penalty unit values appears on the republication inside front cover. 2 Abbreviation key am = amended ord = ordinance amdt = amendment orig = original ch = chapter p = page cl = clause par = paragraph def = definition pres = present dict = dictionary prev = previous disallowed = disallowed by the Legislative (prev...) = previously Assembly prov = provision div = division pt = part exp = expires/expired r = rule/subrule Gaz = Gazette reg = regulation/subregulation hdg = heading renum = renumbered IA = Interpretation Act 1967 reloc = relocated ins = inserted/added R[X] = Republication No LA = Legislation Act 2001 s = section/subsection LR = legislation register sch = schedule LRA = Legislation (Republication) Act 1996 sdiv = subdivision mod = modified / modification sub = substituted No = number SL = Subordinate Law num = numbered underlining = whole or part not commenced o = order or to be expired om = omitted/repealed

Endnotes Legislation history 3 R1 Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 page 9 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au 3 Legislation history This Act was originally a UK Act—The Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 (UK). The Act was renamed as the Act of Settlement 1700 when it was first republished under the Legislation Act 2001. The Act was in force in NSW immediately before 1 January 1911 (the date of establishment of the ACT) and was continued in force by the Seat of Government Acceptance Act 1909 (Cwlth), s 6. Under the Seat of Government (Administration) Act 1910 (Cwlth), s 4 the Act had effect in the ACT as if it were an ACT law (subject to ordinances made under the Seat of Government (Administration) Act 1910). The Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (Cwlth), s 34 (4) converted most former UK laws in force in the ACT into ACT enactments. This allowed the ACT Legislative Assembly to amend and repeal the laws. This Act was converted into an ACT enactment on 11 May 1989 (self-government day). Under the Interpretation Act 1967 (repealed), s 65 all former UK Acts in force in the ACT immediately before 10 November 1999 (including this Act) became, for all purposes, laws made by the ACT Legislative Assembly. This completed the process of making former UK Acts fully into ACT laws. Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 as amended by Imperial Acts Application Act 1986 A1986-93 s 5 and sch 3 pt 12 notified 12 January 1987 (Cwlth Gaz 1986 No S1) s 5 and sch 3 pt 12 commenced 12 January 1987 (s 2 (1)) 4 Amendment history The Imperial Acts Application Act 1986 (the 1986 Act), sch 3, pt 12 set out the text of this Act in an amended form and provided for the amended form to apply as the text of the Act in force in the ACT (see 1986 Act, s 5 (1), (4) and (5)). The 1986 Act incorporated amendments made before 25 July 1828 by 4 and 5 Anne c 20 (1705) and 1 Geo 1 St 2 c 51 (1715). However, amendments made in the UK by the Statute Law and Civil Procedure Act 1881 were not incorporated. The Act referred to in the preamble is the Bill of Rights 1688 1 Will and Mary sess 2 c 2.

Endnotes 4 Amendment history page 10 Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 R1 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au Section 1 was affected in the UK by His Majesty’s Declaration of Abdication Act 1936. Section 2, as in force in the UK on 1 January 1911, required the coronation oath and declaration to be in accordance with 1 Will and Mary c 6. However, that provision was superseded in the UK by the Accession Declaration Act 1910 (UK), but the later Act did not amend the text of this Act. Section 2 was amended by the 1986 Act to require the oath and declaration to be taken according to law to avoid the need to amend the Act whenever the oath and declaration is amended in the UK. Section 3, as in force on 25 July 1828, contained a paragraph about commissions for judges, the payment of judges’ salaries and the removal of judges. This paragraph was omitted by the 1986 Act because these matters are dealt with in the ACT by the Supreme Court Act 1933. This Act has not been amended since the enactment of the 1986 Act, except under the Legislation Act 2001. Name of Act am R1 LA

Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au © Australian Capital Territory 2002

Australian Capital Territory Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 Republication No 1 Republication date: 5 July 2002 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel

The Act of Settlement 1700 hinges on several fundamental constitutional and religious concepts that reflect its late seventeenth-century origin but carry ongoing legal consequences.

The first concept is the Protestant Succession. This concept dictates that the right to govern is not merely a matter of biological descent but is strictly conditional upon religious adherence. Under Section 1, the crown is limited to Princess Sophia of Hanover and the heirs of her body, being Protestants. This is reinforced by the concept of Roman Catholic Disqualification in Section 2, which treats any communion with the Church of Rome, the profession of the Catholic faith, or marriage to a Roman Catholic as a total legal incapacity. This structural exclusion operates automatically; the preamble declares that in such cases, the people are absolved of their allegiance and the crown descends as if the disqualified person were naturally dead.

The second concept is Nativism as an Institutional Control. Section 3 establishes a strict boundary between native-born subjects and those born abroad. It disqualifies anyone born outside England, Scotland, or Ireland, or their dominions, from key constitutional functions, including parliamentary membership, privy council office, and holding any office or place of trust either civil or military. This concept prioritises domestic subjects over foreign-born persons, even if those foreign-born persons have been naturalised or made denizens, unless they were born of English parents.

The third concept is Parliamentary Sovereignty and Constitutional Balance. The Act curtails the executive power of the Crown in two distinct ways. First, it requires the consent of Parliament before the nation can be obliged to engage in any war for the defence of foreign dominions belonging to the monarch. This concept decouples the state from the personal territorial ambitions or foreign entanglements of the sovereign. Second, it limits the prerogative of mercy by enacting that no pardon under the great seal be pleadable to an impeachment. This ensures that the legislature can hold executive ministers accountable through impeachment without royal interference.

The final concept is the Birthright of the Laws. Section 4 conceptualises the laws of the realm as an inherited right of the citizenry, declaring them to be the birthright of the people thereof. This serves as a statutory confirmation of the rule of law, requiring the monarch and all executive officers and ministers to administer government according to those laws.

The Act of Settlement 1700 has a broad field of application, affecting parties ranging from the highest constitutional offices to ordinary residents within the Australian Capital Territory.

First, it directly affects the Sovereign of Australia and the royal family. The Act dictates the lawful descent of the crown and imposes personal religious duties on the monarch, who must remain in communion with the Church of England and take the prescribed coronation oath and declaration under Section 2.

Second, it structurally affects the executive and legislature of the Australian Capital Territory. Because the ACT's constitutional arrangements depend on the executive authority of the Crown, any legal challenge to the validity of the Crown's succession would destabilise the legal authority of the territory's laws.

Third, the Act textually affects foreign-born residents and naturalised citizens. Under Section 3, any individual born outside England, Scotland, or Ireland, or their dominions, is disqualified from holding any office or place of trust either civil or military or receiving any grant of lands, tenements or hereditaments from the Crown. In the modern ACT, where a significant portion of the public service, judiciary, police force, and legal profession consists of naturalised citizens born outside the specified British territories, the literal terms of this section would disqualify a vast swath of the territory's workforce. Similarly, since all land in the ACT is held as leasehold estates granted by the Crown, the literal prohibition on granting lands to foreign-born individuals represents a profound, albeit dormant, threat to private property titles and commercial leases held by naturalised citizens.

Fourth, the Act affects legal practitioners, compliance professionals, and judicial officers in the ACT. Lawyers must navigate the tension between this archaic received statute and contemporary domestic laws. It forces researchers and constitutional scholars to evaluate the doctrine of implied repeal and the operational limits of imperial laws that have been preserved by the Imperial Acts Application Act 1986.

The Act of Settlement 1700 constructs a reciprocal framework of legal duties and rights that bind both the sovereign and the subject.

The primary duties imposed on the monarch are religious and administrative. Under Section 3, the sovereign is under a positive statutory duty to join in communion with the Church of England as by law established. Under Section 2, the monarch is required to have the coronation oath administered according to law and must make, subscribe and repeat the declaration required by law. Administratively, Section 4 imposes a duty on the monarch to administer the government according to the said laws and binds all their officers and ministers to serve them accordingly.

The rights of the subjects are framed as an unalterable inheritance. Section 4 explicitly declares that the laws of England are the birthright of the people thereof. This constitutes a statutory recognition of fundamental liberties and the right to be governed according to the established legal order rather than arbitrary executive decree. This right is safeguarded by the corresponding negative duty imposed on the Crown under Section 3, which prevents the monarch from granting pardons to shield ministers from parliamentary impeachment.

Furthermore, the Act confers a negative right on the populace regarding foreign military actions. Under Section 3, if the crown passes to a non-native sovereign, the nation is not obliged to engage in any war for the defence of any dominions or territories which do not belong to the crown of England unless Parliament consents. This protects subjects from being conscripted or financially burdened to support the monarch's personal foreign interests.

Finally, there is a conditional duty of allegiance. The preamble establishes that the subjects' duty of allegiance is contingent upon the monarch remaining free from communion with the see of Rome. If a monarch violates this religious restriction, the people are absolved of their allegiance, transforming what is normally an absolute duty into a conditional contract of government.

Unlike modern regulatory statutes, the Act of Settlement 1700 does not contain a schedule of civil penalties, administrative fines, or criminal offences. Its enforcement mechanisms are constitutional, structural, and automatic.

The primary enforcement mechanism for a breach of the succession rules is forfeiture of the Crown. If a reigning monarch or heir violates the religious restrictions in Section 2, by holding communion with Rome, professing the Catholic religion, or marrying a Catholic, they are deemed incapacitated to inherit or enjoy the Crown. The crown automatically passes to the next Protestant heir as if the offending person were naturally dead. The ultimate sanction supporting this is the absolution of allegiance. Under the preamble, if the monarch breaches these conditions, the subjects are legally released from their duty of loyalty, effectively legalising resistance or deposition.

For breaches of the administrative restrictions in Section 3, such as the prohibition on foreign-born individuals holding public office or receiving land grants, the enforcement mechanism is the common-law doctrine of ultra vires. Because the Act is a constitutional statute ratified by the Imperial Acts Application Act 1986, any executive action taken in defiance of its terms, such as appointing a foreign-born person to a civil office of trust or executing a Crown land grant to a non-native, would technically be void from the beginning. While no formal penalty unit would apply to the appointing officer, the transaction itself would be legally ineffective, creating severe commercial and administrative disruption.

It is worth noting that the front cover of the 2002 republication lists the value of a penalty unit in the ACT as $100$ for an individual and $500$ for a corporation. However, this is a standard template insert required by the Legislation Act 2001 for all republished laws. There are no actual provisions within the text of the Act of Settlement 1700 that create offences attracting these penalty units, meaning this notice serves no practical penal purpose in this context.

The Act of Settlement 1700 operates within a dense matrix of federal, state, and territory laws, creating significant constitutional friction.

At the federal level, the Act interacts directly with the Commonwealth Constitution. Section 116 of the Australian Constitution explicitly prohibits the Commonwealth from imposing any religious test as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth. However, because the ACT is a territory and the Act of Settlement has been received as an ACT enactment, there is a profound tension between the territory's preserved imperial law, which explicitly demands a religious test for places of trust and the Crown under Section 3, and federal constitutional norms. Additionally, the Act interacts with the Seat of Government Acceptance Act 1909 (Cth) and the Seat of Government (Administration) Act 1910 (Cth), which originally preserved NSW and imperial laws in the territory.

Within the ACT legal system, the Act interacts directly with the Imperial Acts Application Act 1986. This latter statute is the domestic vehicle that gives the Act of Settlement its current force. Section 5 and Schedule 3 Part 12 of the 1986 Act set out the text of the 1700 Act in an amended form. Crucially, the 1986 Act omitted the third paragraph of Section 3, which dealt with judicial commissions, salaries, and the removal of judges. This omission was deliberate, as these matters are instead regulated by the Supreme Court Act 1933 (ACT).

The Act also interacts with the Legislation Act 2001 (ACT), which governs the republication and formal drafting alignment of the text. Under Part 11.3 of the Legislation Act 2001, the Parliamentary Counsel is authorised to make formal editorial changes.

Furthermore, there is an unresolved interaction with modern human rights and anti-discrimination legislation, such as the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT) and the Discrimination Act 1991 (ACT). These laws prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religious belief, race, and place of birth, directly clashing with the sectarian and nativist exclusions in Sections 2 and 3 of the 1700 Act.

The amendment history of the Act of Settlement 1700 reflects its transition from a landmark English statute to a highly modified, preserved piece of Australian Capital Territory legislation.

Originally enacted by the English Parliament in the twelfth and thirteenth years of the reign of King William III, under the citation 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2, the Act was amended in the United Kingdom prior to the 1828 reception date. Specifically, the ACT text incorporates amendments made by the UK statutes 4 and 5 Anne c 20 (1705) and 1 Geo 1 St 2 c 51 (1715). However, subsequent UK amendments, such as those made by the Statute Law and Civil Procedure Act 1881, were never incorporated into the ACT's received version. Section 1 of the Act was altered in its practical application in the UK by His Majesty’s Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, which altered the line of succession.

Section 2 underwent a major domestic modification. As originally enacted and in force on 1 January 1911, Section 2 required the coronation oath and declaration to be administered in accordance with the UK statute 1 Will and Mary c 6. Although the UK altered this via the Accession Declaration Act 1910, that later Act did not formally amend the text of the Act of Settlement. To resolve this discrepancy, the ACT's Imperial Acts Application Act 1986 amended Section 2 of the ACT version to require that the oath and declaration be taken simply according to law, thereby removing the rigid historical reference to the 1688 oath statute.

The most significant structural amendment was the omission of the judicial tenure paragraph from Section 3. Historically, this paragraph established that judges held office during good behaviour and could only be removed upon an address of both Houses of Parliament. The Imperial Acts Application Act 1986 omitted this paragraph from the ACT text because judicial tenure, salaries, and removal in the territory are governed by the Supreme Court Act 1933. Finally, the name of the Act was formally changed to the Act of Settlement 1700 under the Legislation Act 2001.

The Act of Settlement 1700 has not been the subject of direct, reported litigation within the courts of the Australian Capital Territory. This lack of judicial activity is characteristic of foundational constitutional statutes, which function as structural framework laws rather than codifications of actionable civil or criminal wrongs.

However, the Act exists within a broader litigation context concerning the reception of imperial law in Australia. Before the enactment of the Imperial Acts Application Act 1986, litigation in New South Wales and other Australian jurisdictions frequently turned on the highly uncertain question of which ancient English statutes remained in force by virtue of the Australian Courts Act 1828 (UK). The 1986 Act was designed to preempt such litigation by exhaustively listing and re-enacting the specific imperial statutes, including the Act of Settlement, that were deemed suitable for the ACT's constitutional circumstances.

Despite the absence of direct case law, the Act contains latent litigation risks. If an ACT government agency were to deny an employment opportunity or a land lease to a foreign-born resident, citing the strict prohibitions in Section 3, such an action would almost certainly trigger a public law challenge in the ACT Supreme Court. In such litigation, the court would be forced to resolve the direct conflict between the preserved provisions of Section 3 and modern statutory protections. The judicial resolution would likely rely on the doctrine of implied repeal, with the court determining that subsequent enactments, such as the Discrimination Act 1991 (ACT) or the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT), have implicitly repealed the nativist exclusions of the 1700 Act. However, because the 1700 Act was specifically re-enacted as a territory statute via the Imperial Acts Application Act 1986, the argument for implied repeal is complex, as the legislature actively chose to preserve these archaic provisions in the late twentieth century.

The Act of Settlement 1700 contains several significant gotchas, representing legal anomalies and dormant traps arising from the direct reception of a seventeenth-century document into a modern Australian jurisdiction.

The first and most severe gotcha is the Foreign-Born Office and Land Ban in Section 3. Taken literally, this clause dictates that no person born outside England, Scotland, or Ireland, or their dominions, even if naturalised, is capable of holding any office or place of trust either civil or military or receiving any grant of lands from the Crown. Because the ACT operates on a Crown leasehold system, every residential, commercial, or industrial land grant is technically a grant of land from the Crown. Furthermore, public sector employees, police officers, and judicial officers hold offices of trust. If this provision were ever enforced or raised as a jurisdictional shield, it would invalidate thousands of land titles and public service appointments held by naturalised ACT residents who were born outside the British Isles.

The second gotcha is the Church of England Communion Mandate in Section 3. This clause requires whoever comes to the possession of the crown to join in communion with the Church of England. While this reflects the UK's established church model, Australia has no established state church, and the ACT is a secular jurisdiction. The preservation of this religious test in an active ACT statute sits in direct, unresolved opposition to modern statutory human rights frameworks that guarantee freedom of religion and non-discrimination.

The third gotcha is the Penalty Unit Illusion. The republication's front cover prominently displays the value of ACT penalty units as $100$ for individuals and $500$ for corporations. A casual reader or compliance manager might assume that violating the Act's terms could lead to prosecution and the imposition of these fines. In reality, the Act contains no offence provisions, making the inclusion of the penalty unit notice an administrative artifact of the ACT's standard legislative republication template rather than a functional regulatory mechanism.

Compliance with the Act of Settlement 1700 in the Australian Capital Territory requires a nuanced understanding of statutory interpretation and constitutional priority, rather than active transactional reporting.

For corporate compliance professionals, human resource managers, and government legal advisors, direct compliance with the nativist exclusions of Section 3 is practically impossible and legally undesirable. To actively deny employment or land grants to foreign-born individuals in an attempt to comply with Section 3 of the Act of Settlement would constitute a direct violation of the Discrimination Act 1991 (ACT) and the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT). Therefore, the correct compliance strategy is to operate on the legal presumption that subsequent, specific domestic legislation overrules the archaic provisions of the 1700 Act. Under standard principles of statutory interpretation, general, older provisions must yield to specific, newer enactments that cover the same subject matter.

For government drafters and policy advisors, compliance involves ensuring that any new legislation regarding land administration, judicial appointments, or public service employment is explicitly drafted to operate notwithstanding any provision of the Act of Settlement 1700. This shields new transactions and appointments from any potential constitutional challenge based on the ancient text.

For litigation lawyers faced with a dispute involving an ACT land grant or a public service appointment of a foreign-born person, compliance with the broader legal framework requires raising the doctrine of implied repeal. Practitioners must argue that the Legislative Assembly, by enacting comprehensive land and employment frameworks, intended to displace the ancient restrictions. Ultimately, compliance does not mean adhering to the sectarian and nativist restrictions of 1700; instead, it requires legally neutralising them through careful reliance on modern statutory authorities and the secular constitutional norms of the Commonwealth.

ACT OF SETTLEMENT 1700 12 AND 13 WILL 3 C 2

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ACT OF SETTLEMENT 1700 12 AND 13 WILL 3 C 2

Source text: opening excerpt

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Amendment history

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