Honours Committee nominations for peerages, which are created directly by the monarch. Honours Committee The Honours Committee is a committee within the Cabinet Office of the Government of the United Kingdom formed to review nominations for national honours for merit, exceptional achievement or service. Twice yearly the Honours Committee submits formal recommendations for the British monarch's New Years and Birthday Honours. Members of the Honours Committee—which comprises a main committee and nine subcommittees in speciality areas—research and vet nominations for national awards, including knighthoods and the Order of the British Empire. The honours system is an ancient one, particularly in Britain; Æthelstan,
South African honours system separate from the mainstream honours system. The homelands and their decorations and medals became obsolete when South Africa was reconstituted in 1994. The existing South African civil, military and police awards were continued after 1994. A series of decorations for the former liberation armies was added in 1996. A new honours system was inaugurated in 2002, as part of the process of creating new national symbols. It was launched with civilian orders, to which a series of military decorations was added in 2003, a series of police decorations in 2004, a series of intelligence service decorations in 2005, and a