Committee For Privileges 1st Report Of Session 2003 2004 Code Of Conduct And Members Interests

This report details the review by the Sub-committee of the Privileges Committee of the new Code of Conduct for members of the House of Lords, following the Code's first 18 months of operation. The main conclusion reached is that a detailed review of the Code is not required at present, as there have been almost no complaints about non-compliance. Therefore, the Code should be allowed to settle down for a period of years before changes are considered. The report also includes other recommendations regarding the declaration of pecuniary interests and EU pensions. The Committee endorses all the recommendations made by its Sub-Committee.

This reference book is primarily a procedural work which examines the many forms, customs, and practices which have been developed and established for the House of Commons since Confederation in 1867. It provides a distinctive Canadian perspective in describing procedure in the House up to the end of the first session of the 36th Parliament in Sept. 1999. The material is presented with full commentary on the historical circumstances which have shaped the current approach to parliamentary business. Key Speaker's rulings and statements are also documented and the considerable body of practice, interpretation, and precedents unique to the Canadian House of Commons is amply illustrated. Chapters of the book cover the following: parliamentary institutions; parliaments and ministries; privileges and immunities; the House and its Members; parliamentary procedure; the physical & administrative setting; the Speaker & other presiding officers; the parliamentary cycle; sittings of the House; the daily program; oral & written questions; the process of debate; rules of order & decorum; the curtailment of debate; special debates; the legislative process; delegated legislation; financial procedures; committees of the whole House; committees; private Members' business; public petitions; private bills practice; and the parliamentary record. Includes index.

Parliament and the Law (Second Edition) is an edited collection of essays, supported by the UK's Study of Parliament Group, including contributions by leading constitutional lawyers, political scientists and parliamentary officials. It provides a wide-ranging overview of the ways in which the law applies to, and impacts upon, the UK Parliament, and it considers how recent changes to the UK's constitutional arrangements have affected Parliament as an institution. It includes authoritative discussion of a number of issues of topical concern, such as: the operation of parliamentary privilege, the powers of Parliament's select committees, parliamentary scrutiny, devolution, English Votes for English Laws, Members' conduct and the governance of both Houses. It also contains chapters on financial scrutiny, parliamentary sovereignty, Parliament and human rights, and the administration of justice. Aimed mainly at legal academics, practitioners, and political scientists, it will also be of interest to anyone who is curious about the many fascinating ways in which the law interacts with and influences the work, the constitutional status and the procedural arrangements of the Westminster Parliament.

The Committee considered a memorandum from the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards reporting on his consideration of complaints against Dr Liam Fox made by Mr John Mann. These complaints were that Dr Fox had permitted his friend Adam Werritty to stay rent-free in accommodation funded by the Additional Costs Allowance; Adam Werritty reportedly ran a business from that address in 2002-03; Mr Werritty had been "allowed to run an organisation called The Atlantic Bridge from Liam Fox's Parliamentary Offices.The Committee recommended that Dr Fox repay 3,000 pounds to cover the period in which his friend was staying in his ACA funded accommodation after the revised Green Book had put the rules beyond doubt. It also recommended that Dr Fox apologise in writing for his breaches of the rules in permitting his friend to use his ACA funded flat for a year and in permitting The Atlantic Bridge to use his Parliamentary offices. The Committee would have proposed a heavier penalty if Dr Fox had not raised the use of his office with the House Authorities.

First published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This case arises from two articles published by the Sunday Times on 9 June 2013, which detailed the results of a "sting" conducted by two reporters, Ms Heidi Blake and Mr Jonathan Calvert, who posed as representatives of a strategic consultancy recruiting a group of expert consultants to launch a solar technology developer. In their article the reporters alleged that Mr Tim Yeo, the Member for South Suffolk, had "told the reporters he could advocate for their company behind the scenes, introduce them to Ministers and guide them on submitting evidence to his own Committee". Mr Yeo referred himself to the Commissioner, who decided to investigate whether he had breached the rules in that he had: offered to make approaches to Ministers and/or servants of the Crown on behalf of a company in which he expected to have a financial interest; and told the managing director of a company which was a subsidiary of a company in which he had a financial interest what to say when giving evidence to the Select Committee of which he was chair. The Commissioner did not uphold either complaint. The Committee agrees with the Commissioner. Mr Yeo made no improper commitments, despite the tone of the Sunday Times articles, and the energetic attempts of the journalists concerned to draw him into doing so. Media investigations can have a role to play in ensuring high standards of public conduct but in this case Mr Yeo has broken no rules and the only misrepresentation has been that of the journalists themselves