Josh Chafetz
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300113259
- eISBN:
- 9780300134896
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300113259.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter considers the freedom from civil arrest historically guaranteed to Members of Parliament. In its earliest form, the privilege was a royal right and was enforced by officials of the ...
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This chapter considers the freedom from civil arrest historically guaranteed to Members of Parliament. In its earliest form, the privilege was a royal right and was enforced by officials of the Crown. However, as the Houses came into their own, the right took on a more distinctly Blackstonian hue. Here, the function of the privilege was to protect the Houses against all outsiders, and the Houses generally took enforcement into their own hands. The Millian transition was primarily effected by a series of eighteenth-century statutes that eliminated the privilege against civil process and restricted the arrest privilege to Members and parliamentary officers, removing it from Members' menial servants.Less
This chapter considers the freedom from civil arrest historically guaranteed to Members of Parliament. In its earliest form, the privilege was a royal right and was enforced by officials of the Crown. However, as the Houses came into their own, the right took on a more distinctly Blackstonian hue. Here, the function of the privilege was to protect the Houses against all outsiders, and the Houses generally took enforcement into their own hands. The Millian transition was primarily effected by a series of eighteenth-century statutes that eliminated the privilege against civil process and restricted the arrest privilege to Members and parliamentary officers, removing it from Members' menial servants.
Josh Chafetz
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300113259
- eISBN:
- 9780300134896
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300113259.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This book compares the freedoms and protections of members of the United States Congress with those of Britain's Parliament. Placing legislative privilege in historical context, the book explores how ...
More
This book compares the freedoms and protections of members of the United States Congress with those of Britain's Parliament. Placing legislative privilege in historical context, the book explores how and why legislators in Britain and America have been granted special privileges in five areas: jurisdictional conflicts between the courts and the legislative houses, freedom of speech, freedom from civil arrest, contested elections, and the disciplinary powers of the houses. Legislative privilege is a crucial component of the relationship between a representative body and the other participants in government, including the people. In recounting and analyzing the remarkable story of how parliamentary government emerged and evolved in Britain and how it crossed the Atlantic, the book illuminates a variety of important constitutional issues, including the separation of powers, the nature of representation, and the difference between written and unwritten constitutionalism.Less
This book compares the freedoms and protections of members of the United States Congress with those of Britain's Parliament. Placing legislative privilege in historical context, the book explores how and why legislators in Britain and America have been granted special privileges in five areas: jurisdictional conflicts between the courts and the legislative houses, freedom of speech, freedom from civil arrest, contested elections, and the disciplinary powers of the houses. Legislative privilege is a crucial component of the relationship between a representative body and the other participants in government, including the people. In recounting and analyzing the remarkable story of how parliamentary government emerged and evolved in Britain and how it crossed the Atlantic, the book illuminates a variety of important constitutional issues, including the separation of powers, the nature of representation, and the difference between written and unwritten constitutionalism.
