The prefix
The Honourable or
The
Honorable (abbreviated to "
The Hon." or
formerly "The Hon'ble") is a style used before the names of certain
classes of persons. It is considered an
Honorific styling.
Usage
Australia
In
Australia, all ministers in Commonwealth
and state governments and the government of the Northern
Territory
are entitled to be styled The
Honourable. The Australian Capital Territory
does not have an Executive Council (the
Commonwealth Minister for Territories exercises that role) and so
its ministers are not entitled to the style. Except in New South Wales
, South
Australia
and Tasmania
, the title
is retained for life because it recognises that their appointment
to the relevant executive council (when they first become a
minister) is an appointment for life, and the person technically
remains "an executive councillor-on-call". In New South
Wales, South Australia and Tasmania the
Premier can advise the
Queen to grant former ministers the style
for life. In the Northern Territory, the
Chief Minister can request the Administrator
to make a recommendation to the Governor General who in turn makes
a recommendation to the
Queen of
Australia. A minimum 5 years' service as a Member of the
Executive Council and or as a Presiding Officer is a prerequisite.
All such awards are published in the
Commonwealth Government
Gazette. The presiding officers of the parliaments of the
Commonwealth, the states and the Northern Territory are also styled
The Honourable, but normally only during their tenure of
office. Special permission is sometimes given for a former
presiding officer to retain the style after leaving the office as
is the case in the Northern Territory.
Former Australian members of the Commonwealth Executive Council
previously appointed members of the
Privy
Council are still entitled to be styled
The Right Honourable. It has, however,
fallen out of practice to appoint Australians to the Privy
Council.
Justices
of the High Court of
Australia
, the Federal Court, the Family Court, and the
Supreme Courts of all States and Territories are entitled to be
styled The Honourable while in office and on
retirement. The same is not extended to County or District
Court Judges,
Magistrates or members of
Tribunals in any jurisdiction.
The style "The Honourable" is not acquired through membership of
either the House of Representatives or the Senate (see
Parliament of Australia). A member
or senator may have the style if they have acquired it separately,
eg. by being a current or former minister. During proceedings
within the chambers, forms such as "The honourable Member for ...",
"The honourable the Leader of the Opposition", or "My honourable
colleague" are used. This is a merely a parliamentary courtesy and
does not imply any right to the style.
Traditionally, members of the Legislative Councils of the states
were also styled
The Honourable.
This practice is still
followed in New South
Wales, Western Australia
and South Australia and Tasmania.
In
Victoria
, the practice was abolished in 2003.
The Caribbean
Members of the
Order of
the Caribbean Community are entitled to be styled
The
Honourable for life.
In
Puerto Rico, much like the continental
United
States
, the term "Honorable" (in Spanish) is used, but not
required by law, to address Puerto Rican governors as well as city
mayors, members of state and municipal legislatures and
judges.
Members of The
Barbados House
of Assembly are styled
The Honourable.
Canada
In
Canada
, the following people are entitled to the style
The Honourable (or l'honorable in French) for
life:
In addition, some people are entitled to the style while in office
only:
Derivatives include:
- The Honourable Mr / Madam Justice — Justices of superior
courts.
- The Honourable Judge — Judges of provincial courts and formerly
judges of district or county courts.
It is usual for Speakers of the House of Commons to be made Privy
Councillors, in which case they keep the style for life, and
provincial
Premiers and federal oposition
leaders are sometimes also made Privy Councillors.
Members of the
Canadian House
of Commons and of provincial legislatures refer to each other
as "honourable members" (or l'honorable député) but are not
entitled to have
The Honourable as a prefix in front of
their name.
The
Governor General of
Canada, the
Prime Minister
of Canada, the
Chief Justice
of Canada and certain other eminent persons are entitled to the
style
The Right
Honourable for life (or le/la Très honorable in
French).
see Styles of Address (Canada) and
Style
The Congo
In the
Democratic
Republic of the Congo
, the prefix 'Honorable' or 'Hon.' is used for
members of both chambers of the Parliament of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Informally,
senators are sometimes given the higher title of 'Venerable'.
Hong Kong
In
Hong
Kong
, the prefix "The Honourable" is used for the
following people:
Isle of Man
In the
Isle of
Man
, the style
The Honourable (often abbreviated to Hon.) is used to refer to a
Minister
while holding office.
Italy
In
Italy
the members of both houses of parliament have right
to the prefix Onorevole by law. But in fact it is
only used for members of the
Chamber of Deputies, since a
member of the
Senate is usually
called
Senatore (Senator).
Malaysia
In
Malaysia
, an elected Member
of Parliament or State Legislative Assemblyman will be entitled
to be referred to as "Yang Berhormat", which is literally "The
Honourable".It could also be refer to someone that have a
higher position in an organisation such as the manager, chairman
and the ceo . Like in a meeting or presentation the greetings will
starts which they will honour their leader and refer them as "The
Honourable" . Same goes to the instituition of school , higher
education and others especially in the government sector.
New Zealand
In addition to the standard Commonwealth usage, the
Speaker
of the
House of
Representatives is entitled to be referred to as
The
Honourable.
New Zealand office holders who are "Honourable"
ex-officio
are usually personally granted the style for life as a courtesy
when they vacate the office.
Governors-General use the style upon assuming the office and hold
the title for life here after.
Former living Governors-General were
retroactively appointed if they were not already a holder or a
British
Privy
Councillor.
The Philippines
In the
Philippines
, the style is usually used to give distinction to
an elected official from the smallest political unit (the barangay) to the Philippine Senate. In
example, a Kagawad (a member of a legislative council) named
Juan de la Cruz will be styled the
Honorable Juan de la Cruz. A Philippine Senator is also styled with
the Honorable(abbreviated as "Hon."), i.e., Hon.
Juan Ponce Enrile. Moreover, Judges from
the Trial Courts are given the style.
The
President of the
Philippines, as well as the
Vice-President, is usually
given the style
His/her Excellency.
Private organizations
Private organizations or religious movements sometimes style a
leader or founder as The Honourable; e.g. "The Honourable
Elijah Muhammad".
Sri Lanka
In
Sri
Lanka
, the following people are entitled to the style
The Honourable :
United Kingdom
Entitlement
In the
United
Kingdom, all sons and daughters of viscounts and barons
(including baronies created as life peerages) and the younger sons
of earls are styled with this prefix.
(The daughters and younger sons of
dukes and
marquesses and the daughters of
earls have the higher style of
Lord or
Lady before their first names, and the eldest sons of
dukes, marquesses and earls are known by one of their father or
mother's subsidiary titles.) The style is only a
courtesy, however, and on legal documents
they are described as, for instance,
John Smith, Esq., commonly
called The Honourable John Smith. As the wives of sons of
peers share the styles of their husbands, the wives of the sons of
viscounts and barons and the younger sons of earls are styled, for
example,
The Hon. Mrs John Smith.
Some persons are entitled to the prefix by virtue of their offices.
Rules exist that allow certain individuals to keep the prefix
The Honourable even after retirement.
Many corporate entities are also entitled to the style, for
example:
Usage
The style
The Honourable is always written on envelopes
(where it is usually abbreviated to
The Hon), and formally
elsewhere, in which case the style Mr or
Esq. is omitted. In speech, however, The Honourable
John Smith is referred to simply as Mr John Smith.
In the
British
House of Commons
, as in other lower houses of Parliament and other legislatures, members refer
to each other as Honourable Members etc. out of courtesy,
despite the fact that they are not entitled to the style in
writing. Where a member is a barrister, he will instead be
referred to as
the learned Member with serving members of
the military (formerly less of a rarity than today) styled
the
gallant Member.
Where a person is entitled to the prefix
The Right Honourable, they will
use this higher style instead of
The Honourable.
United States
In the
United
States, the prefix The Honorable has, since 1945,
been used to formally address outgoing U.S. Presidents,
especially during the inauguration of the new President following a
presidential election. The term is particularly linked in the U.S.
to a retiring two-term President, since such an individual has made
a truly remarkable achievement: holding the nation's highest
executive office for the longest time possible. The last four times
in U.S. history featuring an outgoing two-term President, the title
"The Honorable" has been used officially to address Presidents
Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1961,
Ronald Reagan in 1989,
Bill Clinton in 2001 and
George W. Bush
in 2009.
As of 2009, "The Honorable" has also been used to address any
living current or former U.S. Presidents. This includes
Jimmy Carter,
George H.W. Bush,
Bill
Clinton,
George W. Bush, and
Barack
Obama.
The
federal usage is expressed in the United
States Department of State
may also (informally) refer to these other people,
although such a title is by no means official.
- The President and
Vice President of
the United States (who are referred to as Excellency when traveling abroad), United States Senators, and United States
Representatives, as well as Presidents-, Vice Presidents-,
Senators-, and Representatives-elect (or
Designates in cases of Representatives or Senators appointed but
not yet seated).
- All federal and
state judges,
justices of the peace, and
magistrates, whether appointed or
elected.
- Court clerks occasionally.
- Appointed heads of the federal executive
departments (United States
Cabinet officers) and Cabinet-level officers, as well as
appointed heads of the independent
agencies
- Assistants
to the President above the rank of "Special Assistant to
President"
- Special (or "Personal") Envoy
- Most appointees that must be confirmed by the Senate, such as ambassadors of the United
States (who are referred to as Excellency when traveling
abroad). United States
Attorneys and military officers are not granted the style,
although they are confirmed by the Senate.
- Officers of the House of Representatives and of the Senate
(e.g.,
Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives,
Secretary of the
Senate)
- Heads of elected legislative bodies such as the U.S. Senate,
Congress, as well as State, County, and City legislatures.
- Governors, lieutenant governors,
statewide elected officers such as the state Attorneys General, and members
of a governor's cabinet. In some states, an incumbent governor is
also referred to as Excellency by
long-established custom or by some legislative or constitutional
act.
Federal usage also notes that the style of "Honorable" is used for
life. This would include persons convicted of crimes after leaving
office, resigned under a cloud, or who were removed from office
(i.e. impeached or recalled).
In the
Commonwealth of
Kentucky, commissioned Kentucky Colonels are considered members
of the Governor's Staff and his honorary aides-de-camp, and as such
are entitled to the style of "Honorable" as indicated on their
commission certificates. The
commission
and
letters patent granted by the
Governor and Secretary of State bestowing the title of
Kentucky Colonel refers to the honoree as
"Honorable First Name Last Name". However, this style is rarely
used, most Kentucky Colonels preferring to be referred to and
addressed as "
Colonel".
The style "The Honorable," or the abbreviation of "Hon." is used on
envelopes when referring to the individual in the third person,
i.e. in a formal introduction. It generally is not used with an
additional style or title, such as
Dr. or
The
Reverend, though it can be used with
post-nominal letters (e.g., "The Hon.
John H. Sununu,
Ph.D"). Other modifiers ("The Right
Honorable," "The Most Honorable") are not used in American
practice.
A spouse of someone with the style of "The Honorable" receives no
additional style, unless personally entitled to the style. The wife
of former
Pennsylvania
Governor Tom Ridge, Michele Ridge,
does not receive the style, even though her husband has held
various offices (governor, U.S. Representative,
Secretary of
Homeland Security, and assistant to the president) that would
grant the style for life under all usages. The wife of current
Pennsylvania Governor
Ed Rendell,
Marjorie Rendell, is a federal
judge, appointed years prior to Rendell's election as Governor, and
is styled "The Honorable."
Aside from the prefix "The Honorable," the spoken form of address,
"Your Honor," is used when addressing judges, justices, and
magistrates (who are addressed as such when presiding in court).
When speaking of a judge in this manner in the third person, "Your
Honor" becomes "His/Her Honor."
See also
References
1. ^ http://www.caricom.org/jsp/secretariat/legal_instruments/agreement_occ.jsp
2. ^ http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/pe/address1_e.cfm Styles of Address (Canada)
3. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_colonel
4. ^ http://foia.state.gov/masterdocs/05fah01/05fah010420.pdf
5. ^ http://www.washingtonlife.com/backissues/archives/99nov/honorables.htm
6. ^ http://www.bartleby.com/95/27.html
7. ^ http://www.uwf.edu/writelab/writeadvice/wa-professional4.htm
8. ^ http://szotar.sztaki.hu/webster/info/thesa/4.style-book/style.6.htmld/
and the President of
the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
.
and other superior courts in the Commonwealth (if
the judge is a knight, the style Sir John
Smith is used socially instead of The Honourable Mr
Justice Smith.);
etc.
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