ABSTRACT
The privileges of the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament are those rules of both Houses of Parliament which offer protection from outside interference – from whatever source – to the Houses collectively, and to individual Members. This chapter focuses on the UK Parliament, but note that privileges also protect the workings of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. The privileges enjoyed form part of the ‘law and custom of parliament’ – lex et consuetudo parliament – and, as such, it is for Parliament to adjudicate on matters of privilege, not the courts. Privileges are embodied in rules of the Houses of Parliament. The role of the courts in matters of privilege is confined to determining whether a privilege exists, and its scope. If the court rules that a disputed matter falls within parliamentary privilege the court will decline jurisdiction. The principal individual privileges are freedom of speech in Parliament and freedom of Members from arrest in civil matters.
