cpap. 1] THE POWERS OF THE GOVERNOR 141
remit the term of punishment in accordance with such
regulations.
The Governor in Council had power to remit the term
of imprisonment of the applicant ; he had not done so, and
the most that the High Court could be asked to do would
be to issue a mandamus to the Governor in Council to
consider the matter. But no mandamus lay to the Gover-
nor in Council! and no court had jurisdiction to review the
discretion of the Governor in Council in the exercise of
the prerogative of mercy.
The rule is obviously reasonable and sensible, though a
certain anomaly is possible. If a statute throws upon
a minister a certain duty, a mandamus will lie to him, if
he has a special duty towards members of the public as well
as a duty to the Crown. But in a similar case, if the Governor
or the Governor in Council were specified as the person to
perform the duty there would be no redress by mandamus.
The difficulties of endeavouring to enforce the action of
a Government by mandamus are too obvious to need
discussion : if a duty is imposed on the Governor or the
Governor in Council, it must be assumed that the intention
is to reserve the performance of the duty for the deliberate
action of the Government as a political entity, and to
remove the matter from the arbitration of the Courts,
Where the line is to be drawn cannot, of course, be settled
by anything save the will of the Parliament.
§ 10. PErITIONS OF RIcHT
Here may be mentioned another prerogative of the Crown
which is not delegated to the Governor by the letters patent,
and which cannot be exercised by him unless under statute.
It is a rule of law that the Crown and its servants cannot
be sued on official contracts. It is recognized that these
! So in Canada the same doctrine has been applied even to a Lieutenant-
Governor by Taschereau J. in Church v. Ml iddlemiss, 21 L. C. J., at p. 319,
and, by Papineau J. in Molson v. Chapleau, 6 L. N., at p. 224. See Lefroy,
Legislative Power in Canada, pp. 95-7; and cf. Hamburg America Packet
Oo. v. The King, 33 8. C. R. 252; inre Sooka Nand Verma,7T W. A. L. R. 225.
