Today, we will talk about the concept of ‘Letters Patent’ and what it means. We hear the term Letters Patent quite often but most of us may not be familiar with its true purport and meaning.
Today, we will talk about the concept of ‘Letters Patent’ and what it means. We hear the term Letters Patent quite often but most of us may not be familiar with its true purport and meaning.
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Hi everyone.
I am Suyash and today, I will talk about the concept of ‘Letters Patent’ and what it means. We hear the term Letters Patent quite often but most of us may not be familiar with its true purport and meaning. Let us understand the same.
‘Letters Patent’ could be defined as “a document granting some right or privilege, issued under governmental seal but open to public inspection.” In Latin, it is also called as litrae patentes. Thus, Letters Patent is a legal instrument that is published by the Government or in older times, by the King or the Monarch, to establish offices, grant rights, monopolies or titles to persons or corporations. The opposite of Letters Patent is Letters Secret that are governmental documents issued to a private person and are not available for public inspection.
The Letters Patent are documents or instruments that are formal in nature and are provided to satisfy the minimum requirements of a particular jurisdiction. Letters Patent are generally prevalent in Commonwealth jurisdictions as the same are issued by the Monarch for specific purposes.
Now, let us understand the types of Letters Patent. The pertinent ones are: -
a. Letters Patent appointing Chancellors, Commissioners, Ministers, Justices, Counsels etc.
b. Letters Patent conferring various titles such as dukes and duchess, earl and countess, viscount and viscountess, baron and baroness etc.
c. Letters Patent creating or constituting various Offices, Courts, Corporations etc.
d. Letters Patent granting various rights, privileges, powers or status to persons, corporations, offices etc.
e. Letters Patent removing or abolishing rights, titles, privileges, powers, offices, persons from offices etc.
It is pertinent to note that even the concept of Patents in the domain of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) also stems from the concept of Letters Patent. Such patents grant exclusive rights in an invention or a design to a person.
Let us now come to the Indian parlance. In the Indian Legal Context, Letters Patent were inter alia used as instruments to constitute and create High Courts by the Britishers in the pre-independence era. Various High Courts such as the Bombay High Court, the Calcutta High Court, the Madras High Court etc. were originally established through Letters Patent.
In the Indian context, Letters Patent constituting High Courts usually contained clauses relating to the following matters: -
a. Clauses establishing and constituting the Court and its First Judges.
b. Clauses containing various declarations, seals, appointments etc.
c. Clauses providing power to admit Advocates, Vakeels and Attorney.
d. Clauses specifying the types of jurisdictions that the High Court has such as civil jurisdiction, criminal jurisdiction, extraordinary jurisdiction, admiralty jurisdiction, testamentary and intestate jurisdiction, matrimonial jurisdiction etc.
e. Clauses specifying Powers of judges.
f. Clauses providing the procedure and practice such as Civil Procedure and Criminal Procedure.
g. Clauses relating to appeals.
h. Clauses providing the rules of evidence to be followed.
i. Clauses providing other powers such as power to call for records, regulate proceedings, transfer cases, rules of hearing etc.
Thus, we see that Letters Patent are very comprehensive piece of documents and serve myriad purposes. In conclusion, following important points emerge with respect to Letters Patent: -
1. ‘Letters Patent’ is “a document granting some right or privilege, issued under governmental seal but open to public inspection.”
2. There are various types of Letters Patent for conferring titles, appointing officers, constituting offices, granting rights or privileges, removing offices or officers etc.
3. Even the concept of Patents in the IPR regime originates from the concept of Letters Patent.
4. In Indian context, Letters Patent were used to constitute various High Courts in the pre-Independence era.
5. Letters Patent constituting High Courts contained various clauses relating to jurisdiction, appointments, rules of evidence, appeals etc.
Therefore, I hope that the nature and the meaning of Letters Patent in Indian as well as general context is clear by now.
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