Letters patent

Letters patent (plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title or status to a person or corporation.

Letters patent can be used for the creation of corporations, government offices, to grant city status or coats of arms.

Today, for example, it is a convention for the British prime minister to announce that they have left a document they wish to enter the public domain "in the library of the House of Commons", where it may be freely perused by all members of parliament.

[2] Letters patent are a form of open or public proclamation[3] and a vestigial exercise of extra-parliamentary power by a monarch or president.

[citation needed] In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, letters patent are royal proclamations granting an office, right, title, or status to a person (and sometimes in regard to corporations and cities).

[citation needed] In the United States, the forgery of letters patent granted by the President is a crime subject to fine, imprisonment up to ten years or both (18 U.S.C. § 497).

Letters patent issued by Queen Victoria in 1900 creating the office of Governor-General of Australia as part of the process of Federation
Letters patent transferring a predecessor of the University of Lorraine to Nancy in 1768
Letters patent issued by the United States United States General Land Office