Chapter
2 - Parliamentary Privilege: immunities and powers of the Senate
Detention of
senators
While the immunity
from arrest in a civil
cause is of little significance, the Senate has insisted upon its right to be
notified of the detention of a Senator in any cause.
In 1979 the
Committee of Privileges considered a case in which a senator had been arrested
and detained without any notification being given to the President. The committee
reported that it was the right of the Senate to receive notification of the
detention of any of its members, and recommended that the Senate pass a
resolution asserting this right and setting out when notification is to be
given (5th report, PP 273/1979). The Senate passed the
recommended resolution on 26 February 1980 (J.1153). The resolution requires any
court, pursuant to the order of which a senator is detained in custody, to
notify the President of the fact and the cause of the senator’s detention.
In 1986 the committee considered a case in which a senator had been
detained by police for a considerable period without being brought before a
court. The committee recommended that the 1980 resolution be modified to impose
an obligation upon police to notify the President of the fact and the cause of
a senator’s arrest where the identity of the senator is known (10th report,
PP 433/1986). The Senate passed the recommended resolution on 18 March 1987 (J.1693-4).
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