Book Description

The publication of Parliamentary Privilege in Australia in 1966 established Enid Campbell as the country's leading scholar in the area. Now Professor Campbell has written a successor which, while drawing on parts of the earlier work, focusses on issues and problems which have arisen in recent years, particularly since the enactment of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987. Topics specifically examined in the book include - the scope of the central privilege of freedom of speech and debate in parliament; measures adopted by houses of parliaments to regulate exercise of that freedom; restrictions on the uses which may be made of evidence of what has been said and done in the course of parliamentary proceedings; immunities accorded to MPs in respect of various legal processes, such as ones which require them to appear before a court to give evidence; the powers of houses of parliaments to make inquiries and to delegate investigatory powers to committee of their members; the power of houses of parliaments to impose penalties of a criminal character and to discipline their members. This book, like its predecessor, will be the standard reference on the laws concerning the powers, privileges and immunities of Australian parliaments, their members and committees for the next generation.