Impeachment in the United Kingdom
This is in contrast to other countries, most notably the United States, where impeachment developed into a means to try officeholders for various misdeeds and has become a common process to the present day.
Procedure
The procedure for impeachment was described in the first edition of Erskine May thus: any member of the House of Commons with proof of an individual's crimes could charge them of said crime and move for their impeachment. If the House of Commons voted to impeach, the mover would be ordered to go to the Bar of the House of Lords to impeach them "in the name of the House of Commons, and of all the commons of the United Kingdom" and "to acquaint them that this house will, in due time, exhibit particular articles against him, and make good the same."
In practice, the Commons would usually select a committee to draw up the charges and create an "Article of Impeachment" for each. Once the committee had delivered the articles to the Lords, replies go between the accused and the Commons via the Lords. If the Commons have impeached a peer, the Lords take custody of the accused; otherwise, Black Rod takes custody. The accused remains in custody unless the Lords allow bail. The Lords set a date for the trial while the Commons appoints managers, who act as prosecutors in the trial. The accused may defend by counsel.
The House of Lords hears the case. The procedure used to be that the
The hearing resembles an ordinary trial: both sides may call witnesses and present evidence. At the end of the hearing the lords vote on the verdict, which is decided by a simple majority, one charge at a time. Upon being called, a peer must rise and declare "guilty, upon my honour" or "not guilty, upon my honour". After voting on all of the articles has taken place, and if the Lords find the defendant guilty, the Commons may move for judgment; the Lords may not declare the punishment until the Commons have so moved. The Lords may then decide whatever punishment they find fit, within the law. A royal pardon cannot excuse the defendant from trial, but a pardon may reprieve a convicted defendant. However, a pardon cannot override a decision to remove the defendant from the public office they hold.
Legal basis
The United Kingdom has no codified constitution, and the legal basis for parliamentary impeachment derives not from statute law but from ancient constitutional convention dating back to 1376.
The Act of Settlement 1701[4] restricted the exercise of royal power by preventing the sovereign from using the royal prerogative of mercy[5] to nullify an impeachment: "That no Pardon under the Great Seal of England be pleadable to an Impeachment by the Commons in Parliament."
Whilst historically judges were removed by impeachment (and constitutionally still may be),[6] the 1701 Act of Settlement provided that a judge of the High Court or the Court of Appeal may be removed by both Houses of Parliament petitioning the Sovereign.[7] This power is now contained in Section 11(3) of the Senior Courts Act 1981:[8] "A person appointed to an office to which this section applies shall hold that office during good behaviour, subject to a power of removal by Her Majesty on an address presented to Her by both Houses of Parliament."
History
Instances of use
Parliament has held the power of impeachment since medieval times. Originally, the House of Lords held that impeachment could apply only to members of the peerage; however, in 1681 the Commons declared that they had the right to impeach anyone, and the Lords respected this resolution. Offices held "during good behaviour" are terminable by the writ of either quo warranto (e.g. R v Richardson) or scire facias, which has even been employed by and against well-placed judges.[9]
After the reign of
The most recent cases of impeachment were of
Queen Caroline
Queen Caroline, consort of King George IV, was tried by the House of Commons and acquitted. The process began as impeachment proceedings, but then became a different procedure as a bill of pains and penalties.
Other parliamentary powers
In addition to the power of impeachment, the House of Commons claims the right to discipline offenders, both
Proposals for abolition
The impeachment procedure has not been used for more than two hundred years, and some legal authorities, such as
The Select Committee on Parliamentary Privilege in 1967 recommended "that the right to impeach, which has long been in disuse, be now formally abandoned".[11] Their recommendation not having been implemented in the meantime, the Select Committee on Privileges in 1977 declared it "to be of continuing validity" and again urged that the recommendation to abolish be adopted.[12]
The Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege in 1999 noted the previous recommendations to formally abandon the power of impeachment, and stated that "The circumstances in which impeachment has taken place are now so remote from the present that the procedure may be considered obsolete".[13]
Potential instances in modern politics
In April 1977 the
On 25 August 2004,
On 29 September 2019, the
See also
- Impeachment in the Thirteen Colonies
- Impeachment of Warren Hastings
- Impeachment of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford
- Parliamentary motion to impeach Tony Blair
- Popish Plot
References
- ^ Caird, Jack Simson (6 June 2016). "Impeachment". House of Commons Library.
- ^ William Blackstone (1769). Commentaries on the Laws of England vol. 4, chapter 19
- JSTOR 2144947.
- ^ "Act of Settlement (1700)". www.legislation.gov.uk. 1700 CHAPTER 2 12 and 13 Will 3. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
- OCLC 166033000.
- ISBN 978-1-84314-475-5. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
- ^ "Judges and Parliament". www.judiciary.uk.
- ^ "Supreme Court Act 1981". www.legislation.gov.uk.
- ^ Raoul Berger, Impeachment: The Constitutional Problems p. 132 (1974, Harvard University Press)
- ^ a b c "Disciplinary and Penal Powers of the House" (PDF). September 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
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(help) - ^ "Report from the Select Committee on Parliamentary Privilege", HC 34 1967–68 para 115.
- ^ "Third report from the Committee of Privileges: Recommendations of the Select Committee on Parliamentary Privilege", HC 417 1976–77 para 16.
- ^ "Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege report", HC 214 1998–99, para 16.
- ^ "Liberals confident of victory on petrol duty". The Times. 11 April 1977. p. 2.
- ^ Hansard HC 6ser vol 424 col 871.
- ^ Wheeler, Caroline (29 September 2019). "Rebel alliance plots to impeach prime minister". The Sunday Times. p. 2.