6. c. 44) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allowed, for the first time, civil actions against the Crown to be brought in the same way as against any other party.

Henry Brougham called for equality between Crown and subjects in a House of Commons motion in 1828 but it was to be a further century before the proposal was realised.

[6] Government departments came up with a range of pragmatic devices to mitigate some of the effects of Crown immunity,[7] and although these left many problems unaddressed, many lawyers and politicians believed that the law generally struck a good balance.

[1][13] There was also political pressure on the Labour government from the trade unions, who feared that Crown immunity would severely affect the rights of workers in nationalised industries.

[16] Section 1 of the act allows claims, for which a petition of right would previously have been demanded, to be brought in the courts directly as against any other defendant.

Section 3 provides for the protection of patents, registered trade marks, design rights and copyrights from breach by Crown servants.

Section 9 originally excluded claims arising from the operations of the Post Office, including telegraphic and telephone services, other than the loss or damage of a registered letter.