At His Majesty's pleasure (when the reigning monarch is female,at Her Majesty's pleasure), sometimes abbreviated to theKing's pleasure (or theQueen's pleasure), is aterm of art in public law and in penal law. In public law, it refers to the indeterminate or undetermined length of service of certain appointed officials. This is based on the proposition that certain government officials are appointed bythe Crown and can be removed for policy reasons, unlike employees. Originating in theUnited Kingdom, the phrase is now used throughout theCommonwealth realms,Lesotho,Eswatini,Brunei, and other monarchies, such as theNetherlands andOman. In realms where the monarch is represented by agovernor-general,governor,lieutenant governor, oradministrator, the phrase may be modified to beat the governor's pleasure or variations thereof, since the governor-general, governor, lieutenant governor, or administrator is the monarch's personal representative in the country, state, or province; although their own tenure is at the monarch's pleasure. In penal law, the term is applied to the indeterminate sentences of some prisoners.
People appointed by the sovereign to servethe Crown and who have no set limit to the time they occupy their given office—for example, agovernor-general and aminister of the Crown—are said toserve at His Majesty's pleasure. InCanada, theCanadian monarch's federal representative, thegovernor general, can appoint deputies who are described as holding office "during the Pleasure of the Governor General".[1] Similarly,Australian federal ministers are appointed to serve "during the pleasure of the Governor-General".[2]
The term is used to describedetention in prison for an indefinite length of time;[3] a judge may rule that a person be "detained at His Majesty's pleasure" for serious offences or based on a successfulinsanity defence.[4] This is sometimes used where there is a great risk of re-offending. However, it is most often used for juvenile offenders, usually as a substitute forlife sentencing (which might be much longer foryouthful offenders). For example, section 259 of theSentencing Act 2020 (which applies toEngland andWales) states, "where [...] a person convicted of murder, or any other offence the sentence for which is fixed by law as life imprisonment, and the person appears to the court to have been aged under 18 at the time the offence was committed. The court must sentence the offender to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure."[5]
Prisoners held at His Majesty's pleasure are periodically reviewed to determine whether their sentence can be deemed complete; although this power traditionally rested with the monarch, such reviews are now made in the name of the monarch, on the advice of government officials — theSecretary of State for Justice inEngland and Wales, for instance. Minimum terms are also set, before which the prisoner cannot be released; in England and Wales, these were originally set by theHome Secretary, but, since 30 November 2000, have been set by the trial judge.[6] Prisoners' sentences are typically deemed to be complete when the reviewing body is "satisfied that there has been a significant change in the offender's attitude and behaviour".[6]
InCommonwealth republics, such asBotswana,[7]India,[8]Kenya,[9]Pakistan,Singapore,[10]South Africa,[11] andSri Lanka, the phrase is "during the president's pleasure". This term is also applied in other republics that are outside of the Commonwealth, such asBrazil,Croatia,Egypt,Finland,France,Iceland,Ireland,Italy,South Korea,Mexico,Montenegro,Portugal andSerbia.
InHong Kong, followingthe transfer of its sovereignty to China in 1997, the term was modified to "atexecutive discretion" (Chinese:等候行政長官的酌情決定).[12] Subsequently, this was held, by JudgeMichael Hartmann, in the caseYau Kwong Man v. Secretary for Security, to be incompatible with the separation of powers enshrined in theBasic Law.[13]
InMalaysia, at the federal level, the term used is "at the pleasure of theYang di-Pertuan Agong"[14] and "at the pleasure of the sultan/ruler/governor", at thestate level.
In thePhilippines, theUnited States,Russia, andNamibia, the equivalent standard for political appointments is called "at the pleasure of the president".[15][16][17]
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