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 Procedure for application of a new grant of arms

[18] An application for a new grant of arms is made by petition to the Lord Lyon King of Arms in the Court of the Lord Lyon. Where the petition is granted, the Lord Lyon's determination is set out in a Warrant for Letters Patent, by which the Lord Lyon authorises the Lyon Clerk (i) to prepare Letters Patent granting appropriate ensigns armorial and (ii) to matriculate the arms in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland. In due course, the Letters Patent are issued to the petitioner. The Letters Patent are a formal title deed from the Crown granting the arms. That is their function. Since the grant of arms is a matter for the Lord Lyon's "very wide discretion" in the exercise of the royal prerogative assigned to him by the 1867 Act, his determinations may only be reviewed by the Court of Session on traditional public law grounds: see Kerr at paragraph 7. The decision in Kerr also made clear the Lord Lyon's wide discretion, in particular, as to how to record or recognise the names of those petitioning for a grant of arms: see paragraphs 8 to 11. The defender notes that in Kerr, an Extra Division refused a challenge to the Lord Lyon's refusal to recognise the applicants in Letters Patent (and hence in the Public Register) in a name or style that incorporated a territorial designation.

Judicial functions of the Lord Lyon

[19] The second type of jurisdiction concerns the Lord Lyon's judicial functions in determining a claimant's entitlement in respect of legal rights. These are not reserved: see paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act. Part 2 of Schedule B to the 1867 Act; and The Lyon Court and Office Fees (Variation) (Devolved Functions) Order 2016 (SI 2016 No 390, with Policy Note) ("the 2016 Devolved Functions Order"). The Lord Lyon also has