Content area
Full text
SUMMARY: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland shares a Monarch with fifteen other Realms of the Commonwealth of Nations, in a phenomenon that is described as ?sixteenth separated Crowns in personal union?. Since the 1970s or earlier reference had been made to the need to adapt the laws of succession to the principles of gender equality and religious freedom expressly or implicitly recognised in the Kingdoms at a constitutional level. However, reasons of expediency had resulted in resistance to such reforms. Amongst these are the delicate balance which underpins the monarchic institution, both in these States and in the Commonwealth as a whole, as well as the fact that three Protestant males are the first in line to succeed the long-living Elizabeth of Windsor. The engagement and subsequent marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was what triggered the reform process, promoted via the Perth Agreement at the Conference of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOMG) in October 2011. This work addresses the complexity involved in the reform of a corpus of legislation dating back to the 18th century but which has seen how with the passage of time the reality upon which it is projected, the British Crown, has evolved into sixteen separate Crowns linked to a Community of Nations formed by over 50 States, most of them republics. There is detailed analysis of a process in which questions of both political expediency and difficulties of legal interpretation have played their part. As will be seen, the socio-political and cultural particularities specific to some of the Realms, such as the federal realities or the uniqueness of Quebec in Canada, explain why the process of implementation of the aforementioned Agreement extended into the year 2015.
RESUMEN: El Reino Unido de la Gran Bretaña comparte Monarca con otros quince Reinos de la Mancomunidad de Naciones (Commonwealth of Nations), en un fenómeno que es descrito como ?dieciséis Coronas separadas, aunque en unión personal?. Desde al menos los años 70 se había venido apuntando la necesidad de adaptar las normas de sucesión a los principios de igualdad de género y libertad religiosa, expresa o implícitamente reconocidos en los Reinos a nivel constitucional. Sin embargo, razones de oportunidad habían venido oponiendo resistencia a la...