At His Majesty's pleasure
{{Short description|Legal term of art in the UK and the Commonwealth}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
At His Majesty's pleasure (when the reigning monarch is female, at Her Majesty's pleasure), sometimes abbreviated to the King's pleasure (or the Queen's pleasure), is a legal term of art referring to the indeterminate or undetermined length of service of certain appointed officials or the indeterminate sentences of some prisoners. It is based on the proposition that certain government officials are appointed by the Crown and can be removed for policy reasons, unlike employees. Originating in the United Kingdom, the phrase is now used throughout the Commonwealth realms, Lesotho, Eswatini, Brunei, and other monarchies, such as Spain, the Netherlands, and Oman. In realms where the monarch is represented by a governor-general, governor, lieutenant governor, or administrator, the phrase may be modified to be at the governor's pleasure or variations thereof, since the governor-general, governor, lieutenant governor, or administrator is the king's personal representative in the country, state, or province.
Service to the Crown
People appointed by the sovereign to serve the Crown and who have no set limit to the time they occupy their given office{{mdash}}for example, a governor-general and a minister of the Crown{{mdash}}are said to serve at His Majesty's pleasure. In Canada, the Canadian monarch's federal representative, the governor general, can appoint deputies who are described as holding office "during the Pleasure of the Governor General".Constitution Act, 1867, section 14. Similarly, Australian ministers of state are appointed to serve "during the pleasure of the Governor-General".Constitution of Australia, section 64.
Incarceration
The term is used to describe detention in prison for an indefinite length of time;{{Cite legislation UK |type=act |year=1933 |chapter=12 |act=Children and Young Persons Act 1933 |section= |date= |accessdate= }} a judge may rule that a person be "detained at His Majesty's pleasure" for serious offences or based on a successful insanity defence.{{Cite book| last=Blackstone |first=William| author-link=William Blackstone| publication-date=1836| title=Commentaries on the Laws of England: in four books; with an analysis of the work, Volume 2| series=24| publication-place=London| publisher=Law Booksellers & Publishers}} 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 for life sentencing (which might be much longer for youthful offenders). For example, section 259 of the Sentencing Act 2020 (which applies to England and Wales) 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."{{Cite legislation UK |type=act |year=2020 |chapter=17 |act=Sentencing Act 2020 |section= |date= |accessdate=4 May 2024 }}
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 — the Secretary of State for Justice in England 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 the Home Secretary, but, since 30 November 2000, have been set by the trial judge.{{cite web|url=http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/619.htm |last=Her Majesty's Courts Service |author-link=Her Majesty's Courts Service |title=Review of Minimum Terms set for Young Offenders detained at her Majesty's Pleasure |access-date=21 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102143618/http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/619.htm |archive-date=2 January 2010 }} 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".
Derivatives
In Commonwealth republics, such as Botswana,{{Citation|publication-date=10 June 1964 |title=Penal Code |series=26 |publication-place=Gaborone |publisher=Government of Botswana |url=http://www.laws.gov.bw/Docs/Principal/Volume2/Chapter8/Chpt8-01%20Penal%20Code.pdf |access-date=21 January 2010 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} India,{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-openpage/the-doctrine-of-pleasure-and-some-governors-tenures/article6137748.ece |title=The doctrine of 'pleasure' and some Governors' tenures |last=Mohan |first=S. |work=The Hindu |date=22 June 2014 |access-date=5 January 2017}} Kenya,{{Cite web|url=http://kenyalaw.org/caselaw/cases/view/135588/|title = Petition 570 of 2015 - Kenya Law}} Pakistan, Singapore,{{cite web |url=https://www.hometeamvolunteers.gov.sg/htvms/web/hometeamconnection-thepresidentspleasurereviewboard |title=The President's Pleasure Review Board |publisher=Home Team Volunteers |access-date=5 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317035738/https://www.hometeamvolunteers.gov.sg/htvms/web/hometeamconnection-thepresidentspleasurereviewboard |archive-date=17 March 2018 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}} South Africa,{{Cite web|url=https://omalley.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv01538/04lv01539/05lv01551/06lv01558.htm|title=1966 - The O'Malley Archives|website=omalley.nelsonmandela.org}} and Sri Lanka, the phrase is "during the president's pleasure". This term is also applied in other republics that are outside of the Commonwealth, such as Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Montenegro and Serbia.
In Hong Kong, following the transfer of its sovereignty to China in 1997, the term was modified to "at executive discretion" ({{lang-zh|等候行政長官的酌情決定}}).{{Citation |publisher=Government of Hong Kong |publication-date=16 July 2004 |title=Long-Term Prison Sentences Review Ordinance |url=http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_ind.nsf/CURALLENGDOC/16A2F990E2EF2C7B48256EDE00238DBA?OpenDocument |series=Cap 524 s 4 |access-date=18 October 2012 }} Subsequently, this was held, by Judge Michael Hartmann, in the case Yau Kwong Man v. Secretary for Security, to be incompatible with the separation of powers enshrined in the Basic Law.[http://www.hklii.hk/cgi-bin/sinodisp/eng/hk/cases/hkcfi/2002/896.html Yau Kwong Man v. Secretary for Security] [2002] HKCFI 896; HCAL1595/2001 (9 September 2002)
In Malaysia, at the federal level, the term used is "at the pleasure of the {{lang|ms|Yang di-Pertuan Agong}}"{{Cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2009/07/23/youth-to-be-detained-at--pleasure-of-the-agong-update |title=Youth to be detained at pleasure of the Agong |work=The Star}} and "at the pleasure of the sultan/ruler/governor", at the state level.
In the United States, Russia, and the Philippines, the equivalent standard for political appointments is called "at the pleasure of the president" ({{langx|ru|по усмотрению президента|po usmotreniyu prezidenta}}; {{langx|fil|Sa kasiyahan ng Pangulo}}).{{cite journal |author=Sławomir Wierzbicki |title=The Russian Federation President and His Role in the Management of National Security System |journal=World Scientific News |year=2017 |volume=72 |url=http://www.worldscientificnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/WSN-72-2017-169-176.pdf}}