Report - Guardian

162 The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005the free movement of workers, although exceptions may be applied in theinterests of public security or public policy.- Human rights laws may be violated, especially a right to private life andnon-discrimination. The measures may violate the ECHR and restrict the rightto private life of UK citizens. Restricting travel and requiring data to be storedon Government databases may violate the ECHR where it is unnecessary andexceed the legitimate public security interests. Likewise, the measures may beregarded as discriminatory against UK nationals.Legal Evolution of the UK Passport and Royal PrerogativeUK passports are issued in the UK under the powers of the royal prerogative and ofstatute. The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority recognised in monarchiccommon law jurisdictions as belonging solely to the monarch. The royal prerogative isnot subject to parliamentary scrutiny but individual prerogatives may be abolished bylegislative enactment. The prerogative to issue passports remains in force today, givingthe sovereign, now through the Secretary of State, the discretion to grant or refuse anyapplication for a passport. This right has remained unchanged for hundreds of years andcontinues to govern the UKPS’s authority for the issue of UK passports. Since nostatute or English case law lays down the rules surrounding the power to issue passportsin the UK or the nature of that passport, evolution of the document itself has beendictated by historical events. In the UK constitutional context, a passport remains todaywhat it was some 500 years ago, namely a pass of safe conduct. 382The passport has undergone a number of physical changes since its introduction in theUK. Principally these have related to style and the details included in the documentlinking the holder with a given passport. A photograph of the holder became arequirement in 1914 as a security feature, together with a range of personal identifyingdata about the holder. This included details of the holder’s facial and nasal shape, eyesand complexion. During the 1970s, security adaptations to passports becameincreasingly necessary in response to threats arising from stolen and falsifieddocuments. New features were introduced to UK passports to help counter fraud. 383 Bycontrast, the need for additional personal identifying data was regarded as no longernecessary for the purposes of the document and these were removed. 384The move by the UKPS to introduce a chip holding biometric data arguably departsfrom the historical and constitutional notion of a passport. These measures effectivelytransform the passport from a travel document securing safe conduct, which citizenshave a right to possess to exercise their right of movement (see below), to a form of IDcard. 385 Additional biometric data provided and stored on Governmental databases382 In an Act of 1414, exists a reference to “safe conducts” (one of the first references to an early passport) by whichBritish subjects were allowed to travel freely under the authority of the then King Henry V.383 For example, blue security paper incorporating a special water-mark was introduced to passport pages andphotographs were laminated to prevent easy substitution. Eventually a security laminate overprint was introduced inthe early 1980s.384 In 1972 a woman’s maiden name was no longer shown on page 1 of the passport and the holder’s eye colour wasomitted. By 1985, the distinguishing marks and height were also removed from page 2 of the UK passport.385 In some countries, the passport is used as an official ID card and is necessary to carry out everyday administrativetransactions, e.g., in Russia where it is needed for receipt of medical care, receiving mail and installation of atelephone line. Moreover, it is an administrative offence not to hold a passport in Russia.