ABSTRACT
The privileges of 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. Erskine May defines privilege as being:
... the sum of the peculiar rights enjoyed by each House collectively as a constituent part of the High Court of Parliament, and by Members of each House individually, without which they could not discharge their functions, and which exceed those possessed by other bodies or individuals. Thus, privilege, though part of the law of the land, is to a certain extent an exemption from the general law. [1997, p 69]
Parliamentary privilege provides protection for Members of Parliament against accusations of defamation from outside parliament and also protects the individual member – in the exercise of his or her freedom of speech – from the executive.
