Notes
Remember the Parliamentary Papers Act 1840 covers the answer.
There was a strong case for [absolute privilege] in 1957 at the time of the Strauss case. . . . That strong case is still there. However, we have had the last 40 years in which the qualified privilege of common law seems to have enabled members of both Houses to carry out their functions satisfactorily'[168].
122. In this regard the court decision in Rost v Edwards[178] is a cause for concern. In 1989 Mr Peter Rost, a member of Parliament, sued the writer of an article in The Guardian newspaper for libel in asserting that Mr Rost had been seeking to sell confidential information obtained by him as a member of the House of Commons select committee on energy. As part of a defence of justification, the defendants asserted that Mr Rost should have registered his parliamentary consultancies. In response Mr Rost wished to establish, by reference to the published rules and to Erskine May, the requirements laid down by the House for the registration of pecuniary interests, and to call evidence on the nature of his consultancies and the reason why he had not registered them. The Solicitor General submitted that the House of Commons register of members' interests and the related practice and procedure formed part of the proceedings of Parliament. The trial judge rejected this submission, and held that registration of members' interests is not a proceeding in Parliament.[179]
For the purposes of article 9 of the Bill of Rights 1689 `proceedings in Parliament' means all words spoken and acts done in the course of, or for the purposes of, or necessarily incidental to, transacting the business of either House of Parliament or of a committee.
(2)
Without limiting (1), this includes:
(a) the giving of evidence before a House or a committee or an officer appointed by a House to receive such evidence
(b) the presentation or submission of a document to a House or a committee or an officer appointed by a House to receive it, once the document is accepted
(c) the preparation of a document for the purposes of transacting the business of a House or a committee, provided any drafts, notes, advice or the like are not circulated more widely than is reasonable for the purposes of preparation
(d) the formulation, making or publication of a document by a House or a committee
(e) the maintenance of any register of the interests of the members of a House and any other register of interests prescribed by resolution of a House.
(3)
A `committee' means a committee appointed by either House or a joint committee appointed by both Houses of Parliament and includes a sub-committee.
(4)
A document includes any disc, tape or device in which data are embodied so as to be capable of being reproduced therefrom.'
There was a strong case for [absolute privilege] in 1957 at the time of the Strauss case. . . . That strong case is still there. However, we have had the last 40 years in which the qualified privilege of common law seems to have enabled members of both Houses to carry out their functions satisfactorily'[168].
122. In this regard the court decision in Rost v Edwards[178] is a cause for concern. In 1989 Mr Peter Rost, a member of Parliament, sued the writer of an article in The Guardian newspaper for libel in asserting that Mr Rost had been seeking to sell confidential information obtained by him as a member of the House of Commons select committee on energy. As part of a defence of justification, the defendants asserted that Mr Rost should have registered his parliamentary consultancies. In response Mr Rost wished to establish, by reference to the published rules and to Erskine May, the requirements laid down by the House for the registration of pecuniary interests, and to call evidence on the nature of his consultancies and the reason why he had not registered them. The Solicitor General submitted that the House of Commons register of members' interests and the related practice and procedure formed part of the proceedings of Parliament. The trial judge rejected this submission, and held that registration of members' interests is not a proceeding in Parliament.[179]
For the purposes of article 9 of the Bill of Rights 1689 `proceedings in Parliament' means all words spoken and acts done in the course of, or for the purposes of, or necessarily incidental to, transacting the business of either House of Parliament or of a committee.
(2)
Without limiting (1), this includes:
(a) the giving of evidence before a House or a committee or an officer appointed by a House to receive such evidence
(b) the presentation or submission of a document to a House or a committee or an officer appointed by a House to receive it, once the document is accepted
(c) the preparation of a document for the purposes of transacting the business of a House or a committee, provided any drafts, notes, advice or the like are not circulated more widely than is reasonable for the purposes of preparation
(d) the formulation, making or publication of a document by a House or a committee
(e) the maintenance of any register of the interests of the members of a House and any other register of interests prescribed by resolution of a House.
(3)
A `committee' means a committee appointed by either House or a joint committee appointed by both Houses of Parliament and includes a sub-committee.
(4)
A document includes any disc, tape or device in which data are embodied so as to be capable of being reproduced therefrom.'
posted by John Hemming at 4:48 AM
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