The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England that was passed in 1701 to settle the succession to the English and Irish crowns and thrones on the Electress Sophia of Hanover ( a granddaughter of James I ) and her Protestant heirs.

Since the implementation of the Statute of Westminster 1931 in each of the Commonwealth realms ( on successive dates from 1931 onwards ), the Act of Settlement cannot be altered in any realm except by that realm's own parliament and, by convention, only with the consent of all the other realms, as it touches on the succession to the shared throne.

The Act of Settlement was thus passed and granted Royal Assent in 1701.

The Act of Settlement provided that the throne would pass to the Electress Sophia of Hanover – a granddaughter of James VI of Scotland and I of England, niece of Charles I of Scotland and England – and her Protestant descendants who had not married a Roman Catholic ; those who were Roman Catholic, and those who married a Roman Catholic, were barred from ascending the throne " for ever ".

For different reasons, various constitutionalists have praised the Act of Settlement: Henry Hallam called the act in the United Kingdom " the seal of our constitutional laws " and David Lindsay Keir placed its importance above the Bill of Rights 1689.

Naamani Tarkow has written: " If one is to make sweeping statements, one may say that, save Magna Carta ( more truly, its implications ), the Act of Settlement is probably the most significant statute in English history ".

The original Act of Settlement

The Act of Settlement was, in many ways, the major cause of the union of Scotland with England and Wales to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

The Parliament of Scotland was not happy with the Act of Settlement and, in response, passed the Act of Security in 1704, through which Scotland reserved the right to choose its own successor to Queen Anne.

By virtue of Article II of the Treaty of Union, which defined the succession to the throne of Great Britain, the Act of Settlement became part of Scots Law as well.

Since the passage of the Act of Settlement, the most senior member of the Royal Family to have married a Roman Catholic, and thereby been removed from the line and later lines of succession, is Prince Michael of Kent, who married Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz in 1978 ; he was fifteenth in the lines of succession at the time of his marriage.

Under the Act of Settlement, male-preference primogeniture succession of an Anglican legitimate descendant of the Electress Sophia is automatic and immediate, neither depending on, nor waiting for, any proclamation.

In the Australian Capital Territory, the Act of Settlement was, on 11 May 1989, converted, from an act of the Parliament of England into an ACT enactment, by section 34 ( 4 ) of the Australian Capital Territory ( Self-Government ) Act 1988 ( Cwlth ), and then renamed The Act of Settlement 1700 by the Legislation Act 2001.

Challenges have been made against the Act of Settlement, especially its provisions regarding Roman Catholics and preference for males.

It was reported in October 2011 that the Australian federal government had reached an agreement with all of the states on potential changes to their laws in the wake of amendments to the Act of Settlement.

Canadian scholar Richard Toporoski theorised in 1998 that " if, let us say, an alteration were to be made in the United Kingdom to the Act of Settlement 1701, providing for the succession of the Crown ... t is my opinion that the domestic constitutional law of Australia or Papua New Guinea, for example, would provide for the succession in those countries of the same person who became Sovereign of the United Kingdom.

In Canada, where the Act of Settlement is now a part of Canadian constitutional law, Tony O ' Donohue, a Canadian civic politician, took issue with the provisions that exclude Roman Catholics from the throne, and which make the monarch of Canada the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, requiring him or her to be an Anglican.

In Section 10 ( 7 ) continues the " use of the description city in relation to Kilkenny, to the extent that that description was used before ( January 1, 2002 ) and is not otherwise inconsistent with this Act.

Eastern Orthodoxy, in particular has very elaborate and strict rules of fasting, and continues to observe the Council of Jerusalem's apostolic decree of Act 15.

A critical press continues to operate, although the government has intervened for alleged inaccurate reporting, using the 1965 Public Order Act which criminalizes libel.

Radio Caroline defies the Act and continues broadcasting.

Carmen initially gained its reputation through a series of productions outside France, and was not revived in Paris until 1883 ; thereafter it rapidly acquired celebrity at home and abroad, and continues to be one of the most frequently performed operas ; the " toreador's song " from Act 2 is among the best known of all operatic arias.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 continues to raise awareness and enforce action on disability issues in the urban environment.

The Comptroller of the Currency continues to have significance in the U. S. economy and is responsible for administration and supervision of national banks as well as certain activities of bank subsidiaries ( per the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 ).

The federal Anti-Pinkerton Act of 1893 continues to prohibit an " individual employed by the Pinkerton Detective Agency, or similar organization " from being employed by " the Government of the United States or the government of the District of Columbia.

* October 1977 – The Housing and Community Act of 1977 sets up Urban Development Grants and continues elderly and handicapped assistance

The declaration of the Park continues under the EPBC Act.

PoTA was repealed in 2006, but the Official Secrets Act 1923 continues.

Protesting " a pall of repression " and referring specifically to the USA PATRIOT Act as emblematic of that repression, it accuses the executive branch of usurping " the roles and functions of the other branches of government ," and continues, " We must take the highest officers of the land seriously when they talk of a war that will last a generation and when they speak of a new domestic order.

Simmons continues to promote health and has broadened his activities to include political activism, notably in support of a bill mandating non-competitive physical education in public schools as a part of the " No Child Left Behind " Act .< ref >

The Act then stipulated that " so long as Saorstát Éireann the Irish Free State is associated with the member nations of the Commonwealth, and so long as the King recognised by those nations as the symbol of their co-operation continues to act on behalf of each of those nations ( on the advice of the several Governments thereof ) for the purposes of the appointment of diplomatic and consular representatives and the conclusion of international agreements, the King so recognised may, and is hereby authorised to, act on behalf of Saorstát Éireann for the like purposes as and when advised by the Executive Council so to do " ( s. 3 ( 1 )).

Abernathy testified, along with his executive associate, James Peterson of Berkeley, California, before the Congressional Hearings calling for the Extension of the Voting Rights Act, which has and continues to serve as the only legal method to ensure equal and fair voting practices in the Southern States, guaranteeing that everyone born in the United States of America, regardless of race, is entitled to full citizenship and the right to vote.

As an official repository under the 1958 Public Records Act, the archive continues to receive material from the Ministry of Defence.

Like the Film Archive, the Photograph Archive is an official repository under the 1958 Public Records Act, and as such continues to receive material from the Ministry of Defence.

Many US states have adopted the Model Business Corporation Act, but the dominant state law for publicly-traded corporations is Delaware, which continues to be the place of incorporation for the majority of publicly-traded corporations.

For example, in England and Wales this type of mortgage is no longer available in relation to registered interests in land, by virtue of section 23 of the Land Registration Act 2002 ( though it continues to be available for unregistered interests ).

Also during British rule in India they were placed under Criminal Tribes Act 1871 and labelled a " criminal tribe ," hence subjected to compulsory registration, strict monitoring and stigmatized for a long time, after independence however they were denotified in 1952, though the century old stigma continues.

Following the implementation of the Statistics & Registration Service Act, the General Register Office continues to be part of a ministerially-accountable department and became a part of the Home Office.

The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity ( Libertad ) Act of 1996 ( Helms – Burton Act,,, ) is a United States federal law which strengthens and continues the United States embargo against Cuba.

" The Raker Act of 1913 allowed the flooding of the valley, but debate continues to this day.

The Minister's legal title, as set out in the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Act, remains the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and this title continues in use in statutes and legal documents.