Crown servant


The term "Crown servant" is used to denote a "person employed by the Crown". Although the term is not consistently defined, generally speaking the term encompasses all executive officials and their staffs, civil servants, police, judicial officials, and members of the armed forces. While the term is used in other Commonwealth countries such as Canada, it has the most predominant use and is the most well-defined with the United Kingdom.

Crown servant vs civil servant

The terms civil servant and Crown servant can coincide but are sometimes exclusive. It is suggested that the phrase "civil servant" may include every person who serves the Crown, with the exception of members of the armed forces of the United Kingdom, the Ministers of the Crown and the judiciaries of the United Kingdom. However, members of the armed forces are nonetheless Crown servants.

Employment rights

Crown servants serve "at the pleasure of the Crown", and do not therefore benefit from the protections normally available to employees by law. However, the majority of these protections are applied to them by the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992. For the purposes of the Act, "crown employment" means employment "under or for the purposes of a government department or any officer or body exercising on behalf of the Crown functions conferred by an enactment", though members of the armed forces are excluded from this provision, and the government has the ability to exclude other Crown servants "for the purpose of safeguarding national security".

Official Secrets Act 1989

Section 12 of the Official Secrets Act 1989 defines the expression "Crown servant" for the purposes of that Act. It now provides:
Paragraph was inserted on 6 May 1999 by section 125 of, and of the Schedule to, the Scotland Act 1998.
Paragraph was inserted by of Schedule 10 to the Government of Wales Act 2006. This provision came into force immediately after the 2007 election by virtue of of that Act and.
Paragraph referred to a person appointed under section 8 of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. It was repealed on 2 December 1999 by sections and of, and of Schedule 13 to, and to, the Northern Ireland Act 1998, subject to savings in of that Act.
The words "Part IX of the Reserve Forces Act 1996" in paragraph were substituted for the words "the Reserve Forces Act 1980" on 1 April 1997 by section 131 of, and of Schedule 10 to, the Reserve Forces Act 1996, subject to of that Act.
The words in the first set of square brackets in paragraph were substituted for the words "" on 4 November 2001, by section 74 of, and of Schedule 6 to, the Police Act 2000.
The words in the second set of square brackets in that paragraph were substituted for the words "or of the National Criminal Intelligence Service or the National Crime Squad" on 1 April 2006 by section 59 of, and of Schedule 4 to, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. The words "or of the National Criminal Intelligence Service or the National Crime Squad" had been inserted on 1 April 1998, by section 134 of, and of Schedule 9 to the Police Act 1997.
"Prescribed", ss.12 &
This expression is defined by section 13 to mean prescribed by an order made by the Secretary of State. The procedure for making orders under the Act is provided by section 14. "Secretary of State" is defined by the Interpretation Act 1978 to mean one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State.
Prescribed classes of employees or members of prescribed bodies or classes of bodies, s. 12
The following have been prescribed for the purposes of section 12:
Prescribed offices, s.12
The following offices are now prescribed for the purposes of section 12:
Prescribed classes of employees of holders of prescribed offices, s. 12
The following classes of employees of holders of the prescribed offices above are now prescribed for the purposes of section 12: