Chapter
2 - Parliamentary Privilege: immunities and powers of the Senate
Minor immunities
There are three
minor immunities of members of the Houses of the Parliament and of witnesses
and parliamentary officers. One of these is of virtually no significance, and
the other two seldom arise. These are:
-
immunity
from arrest in civil causes
-
exemption
from service as a juror
-
exemption
from compulsory attendance in a court or tribunal.
The immunity from arrest in a civil cause is now of little
significance. The potential for a person to be arrested and imprisoned by a
civil, as distinct from a criminal, process is now extremely small, due to
changes in the law and the narrow compass which the courts have given to purely
civil causes by interpretation. The immunity extends to witnesses required to
attend on parliamentary committees and to officers required to attend on the
Houses or their committees.
In some countries the immunity extends to criminal matters, and a
member may not be arrested or prosecuted without the consent of the relevant
house. This may be regarded as a security against the obstruction of members by
abuse of the processes of law, but in view of the general integrity of the
criminal process in Australia, it would not seem to be appropriate here.
The other two minor immunities seldom arise in practice. There is good
ground for retaining them, however: the principle that the Houses should have
first right to the services of their members, witnesses and officers, and that
those services should not be impeded by the requirements of legal proceedings
before a court.
Section 14 of the
1987 Act codifies the immunities from arrest in a civil cause and from
compulsory attendance before a court or tribunal. The Act restricts the
immunities to five days before and five days after a meeting of a House or
committee. Before the Act was passed these immunities operated for 40 days
before and after a session, that is, in modern times, virtually permanently.
The immunity from being compelled to attend before a court or tribunal
does not prevent a member, witness or officer attending voluntarily when
requested to do so.
The exemption from jury service of members and officers of the Houses
is regulated by the Jury Exemption Act 1965.
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