Oaths

Various people swear oaths when they take office or other duties. An oath is the most solemn and formal commitment there is short of signing in blood or human sacrifice. There is more and far better on this one at The Oaths and Vows That Bind. The Oaths of Allegiance are used to swear loyalty to the Queen. The general purpose Oath of Allegiance includes a commitment to Supremacy of the Crown i.e. repudiation of the spiritual or ecclesiastical authority of any foreign prince, person or prelate such as the European Union. It was betrayed by Francis Maude and Douglas Hurd. See Treason At Maastricht for more and better details. 

The Queen's Oath of Office
QUOTE
I [monarch's name] do solemnly and sincerely in the presence of God profess, testify and declare that I am a faithful Protestant, and that I will, according to the true intent of the enactments which secure the Protestant succession to the Throne of my Realm, uphold and maintain the said enactments to the best of my powers according to law.
The Act of Union 1707 requires the sovereign to make a declaration and take an oath to preserve the Church of Scotland. This is done at the first meeting of the Privy Councillors
UNQUOTE
The source is Parliament so it should be reliable. In fact it is not - see Coronation Oath from Queen's site.

QUOTE
Archbishop. Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel? Will you to the utmost of your power maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law? Will you maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England? And will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England, and to the Churches there committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges, as by law do or shall appertain to them or any of them?

Queen. All this I promise to do.
UNQUOTE

 

Oath Of Allegiance Sworn By MPs
I... swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.
It is one they treat with contemptuous indifference. A discreditable exception is Gerry Adams, who alleges that he does not command the IRA. This proves that it matters to his voters, IRA all.

 

Privy Council Oath
All Cabinet Ministers and Her Majesty's Government swear to uphold the Queen's Realm against foreign princes, powers and potentates. They all breach that oath without hesitation.

 

Oath Of Allegiance In The British Army
QUOTE
All soldiers must take an oath of allegiance upon joining the Army, a process known as "attestation". Those who believe in God use the following words: I (state your name, swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, her heirs and successors and that I will as in duty bound honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty, her heirs and successors in person, crown and dignity against all enemies and will observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors and of the generals and officers set over me. Others replace the words "swear by Almighty God" with "solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm."
UNQUOTE
This oath applies to all officer and men including the Chief of Staff who is currently [ 2009 ] Richard Dannatt. But it does not always apply to the Chief of the Defence Staff who can be from the Royal Navy or the Royal Air Force.

 

Police Oath In England
QUOTE
For Schedule 4 to the 1996 Act there shall be substituted—
“SCHEDULE 4 Form of Declaration’ I....................of....................do solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm that I will well and truly serve the Queen in the office of constable, with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality, upholding fundamental human rights and according equal respect to all people; and that I will, to the best of my power, cause the peace to be kept and preserved and prevent all offences against people and property; and that while I continue to hold the said office I will, to the best of my skill and knowledge, discharge all the duties thereof faithfully according to law.’”
UNQUOTE
I suspect that an older form of the oath was to uphold the law without fear or favour, without malice or ill-will. It is clearer, less ambiguous.

 

Police And Crime Commissioners To Swear An Oath Of Impartiality
QUOTE
The full oath:

Full Name of Place do solemnly and sincerely promise that I will serve all the people of Police Force Area in the office of Police and Crime Commissioner without fear or favour.

I will act with integrity and diligence in my role and, to the best of my ability, will execute the duties of my office to ensure that the police are able to cut crime and protect the public.

I will give a voice to the public, especially victims of crime and work with other services to ensure the safety of the community and effective criminal justice.

I will take all steps within my power to ensure transparency of my decisions, so that I may be properly held to account by the public.

I will not seek to influence or prevent any lawful and reasonable investigation or arrest, nor encourage any police action save that which is lawful and justified within the bounds of this office.
UNQUOTE
Our wonderful government does not say that this oath does not apply in Rotherham, to South Yorkshire Police or to 'Sir' Bernard Hogan-Howe when he is invited to investigate Racist crimes committed by Pakistani politicians called e.g. 'Lord' Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed of Rotherham

4. Oath of office - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

5. Coronation Oath Act 1688 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    "The Coronation Oath Act 1688 (1 Will. & Mar., c. 6) was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England passed in 1689, the long title of which is "An Act ..."
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_Oath_Act_1688

 
Oath of Allegiance ex Wiki
The oath of allegiance has its origins in the Magna Carta, signed [ sic ] on 15 June 1215.

Once the terms had been finalised on 19 June, the rebels again swore allegiance to King John. The later Bill of Rights (1689) included the Oath of Allegiance to the crown, which was required by Magna Carta to be taken by all crown servants and members of the judiciary.[6][7]

Over the following centuries this evolved into three separate oaths; of Supremacy (repudiation of the spiritual or ecclesiastical authority of any foreign prince, person or prelate), Allegiance (declaration of fidelity to the Sovereign) and in 1702 Abjuration (repudiation of the right and title of descendants of James II to the throne). Oaths of allegiance were exacted from Lords, by Henry IV and Henry VI in 1455 and 1459, and oath of supremacy was introduced under Henry VIII in 1534. Elizabeth I introduced an Act of Supremacy in 1563 requiring an oath to be taken by all future Members of the House of Commons. A new oath of allegiance appeared under James I (prompted by the "Gunpowder Plot") under the Popish Recusants Act 1605, and the Oath of Allegiance Act 1609. This oath required recognition of James I as lawful King and renunciation of the Pope. The 1609 Act required Commons MPs to take the oath of allegiance and of supremacy, but this was not "parliamentary" oath, as it was not taken in Parliament, and there were no consequences if not sworn.

After the Restoration, oaths of supremacy and allegiance were imposed upon all MPs and Peers in Parliament. In 1689, in an Act passed by William and Mary, old oaths of supremacy and allegiance were replaced with shorter ones, almost to its modern form: In 1701 the exiled King James II, died and the adherents of the Stuart claim and King Louis XIV of France proclaimed his son rightful king. The Act of Settlement 1701 was quickly passed to address the new situation. It extended substantially the old oaths, and added an oath of abjuration of the Pretender's title. This oath pledged support for the Hanoverian succession and for the exclusion of the Stuarts.

The Oaths of Allegiance etc and Relief of the Jews Act 1858 prescribed a single form of the oath in place of the former three. This single form retained a declaration of allegiance and a promise to defend the Hanoverian succession. A declaration relating to the supremacy of the Sovereign was also included and the oath continued to be made ’on the true faith of a Christian’ However, both of these latter elements disappeared from the revised version of the single oath that was subsequently prescribed in the Parliamentary Oaths Act 1866, which repealed much of the earlier pieces of legislation in so far as they related to oaths taken by Members of Parliament.

Finally, in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 a further curtailment to the oath was made, thereby establishing the form of the oath still used today. The direct religious content has disappeared along with the declarations relating to the supremacy of the Sovereign. In its current form, the oath conforms fairly closely to the medieval (feudal) oath of allegiance.

After the general right to affirm was guaranteed in 1888, the Oaths Act 1909 introduced a change to the ordinary method of taking oaths, which provided for oaths to be sworn on the Bible: in case of a Christian, on the New Testament, and in the case of a Jew on the Old Testament. This Act also established the usual form of taking the oath, with the phrase "I swear by Almighty God that …". Section 1 of the Oaths Act 1888 (on the right to affirm) was replaced in the Administration of Justice Act 1977.

The Oaths Act 1961 extended the 1888 Act, but did not apply to Parliamentary Oaths. All of the provisions in the Oaths Acts of 1838, 1888, 1909, 1961 and 1977 were repealed and consolidated in the Oaths Act 1978, although the form of wording of the oath set out in the 1868 Act was preserved. The 1978 Oaths Act contains provisions relating to the manner of administering the oath, the option of swearing with uplifted hand, the validity of oaths, the making of solemn affirmations and the form of affirmation.[8] The current Oath of Allegiance or Official Oath is set out in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868.

 

Errors & omissions, broken links, cock ups, over-emphasis, malice [ real or imaginary ] or whatever; if you find any I am open to comment.
 
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Updated on 19/10/2019 14:04