The courts have long been able to rule upon whether a claimed prerogative power actually exists and, if so, on what the scope of that power actually is. In Entick v Carrington (1765) 19 St Tr 1029 (see Chapter 4), the Crown argued that a prerogative power existed to issue warrants for search and seizure of seditious material. However, the court ruled that such a prerogative did not exist and went on to declare that the search was unlawful because the warrant had no other legal basis either.