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what is impeachment?
What is impeachment?
27 August 2004
Impeachment
As you will have seen in the press, a group of MPs, headed by Adam Price, has commissioned a report on the potential impeachment of the Prime Minister for "High Crimes and Misdemeanours in relation to the invasion of Iraq".
As well as setting out the reasons for proposing an impeachment of Tony Blair, the report also describes in detail the process of impeachment.
A copy of this report may be found at http://www.impeachblair.org/ but, be warned, the file is rather large and may take some time to download if you are on a dial-up connection.
So what is ‘impeachment’?
Impeachment is a formal accusation of ‘wrongdoing’, usually where a public official is charged with improper conduct in public office, or a crime against the State(1). A successful impeachment often results in the individual being removed from his/her post. This mechanism means that the House of Commons as a body can accuse officials who had abused their authority and put them on trial before the Lords(2).
Impeachment was last successfully invoked in the UK in 1806, and in 1967 there was an unsuccessful attempt to repeal this procedure(3). However, it has been long considered that there is no longer a need for impeachment owing to the scrutiny which now takes place in Parliament, the ability of the courts to deal with such matters, and the now-common practice of public officials resigning their posts in the event of being accused of improper conduct.
Impeachment is a constitutional tool where the Commons would prosecute a case before the House of Lords. It is described as being for "high crimes and misdemeanours beyond the reach of the law or which no other authority of the state will prosecute". Although impeachment is a way of raising a high profile issue, it is unlikely that many MPs would vote for such a measure.
The Commons itself could debate whether there are sufficient grounds to bring impeachment proceedings against one or more ministers or officials.
What is the impeachment procedure?
To invoke an impeachment, a single Member of Parliament may make a formal accusation against an individual to the House of Commons. The matter is then examined by the House. If the House deems that there are sufficient grounds to justify further proceedings, the accuser then goes to the Bar of the House of Lords to impeach the accused person.
A Commons committee is then appointed to draw up articles of impeachment which are debated, agreed and presented to the Lords.
The defendant supplies written answers to the charge to the Commons, who may then communicate a reply to the Lords. The defendant is then arrested and delivered to Black Rod, although he may be released on bail.
Witnesses for the defence are appointed by the Commons and the defendant is also entitled to defence by counsel. Even if the defendant is found guilty, judgement is pronounced unless and until demanded by the Commons (which may, at this stage, pardon the accused).
An impeachment may continue from session to session, or over a dissolution. Under the Act of Settlement the sovereign has no right of pardon(4).
Further reading :
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There is a Standard Note on impeachment which can be found on the House of Commons Library Intranet site, under ‘Our Publications’.
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BBC Politics : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3600438.stm
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Video report from the BBC (requires RealPlayer) http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/40000000/rm/_40000554_impeach_esler25aug_vi.ram
References
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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6072768
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Gay, Oonagh, ‘Impeachment’, House of Commons Library Standard Note SN/PC/2666, 18 September 2003
