Parliamentary privilege in the United Kingdom

rdf:langString Parliamentary privilege in the United Kingdom

rdf:langString Parliamentary privilege in the United Kingdom is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of the House of Commons and House of Lords designed to ensure that parliamentarians are able to carry out their duties free from interference. The privileges are freedom of speech, freedom from arrest on civil matters, freedom of access to the sovereign, and that 'the most favourable construction should be placed on all the Houses' proceedings'. Fair and accurate reporting of the proceedings of parliament is also protected by parliamentary privilege. Parliamentary privilege is, however, something that forms part of the law rather than putting Members of Parliament above the law: for example, the MPs Chris Huhne and Fiona Onasanya were both successfully convicted of non-parliamentary criminal offenses in the 2010s; and the 2010 Supreme Court case R v Chaytor, argued in the wake of the parliamentary expenses scandal, ruled that MPs were not immune to prosecution for crimes such as fraud conducted in relation to their parliamentary activities.