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Parliament
(Privileges, Immunities
and Powers) Act 1962

2020 REVISED EDITION

This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021

An Act to declare and define the privileges, immunities and powers of Parliament and of the Speaker, Members and committees thereof, to regulate the conduct of Members and other persons in connection with the proceedings thereof, to give protection to persons employed in the publication of the reports and other papers of Parliament and for purposes incidental to or connected with the matters aforesaid.

[23 March 1962]

PART 1

PRELIMINARY

Short title

1. This Act is the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act 1962.

Interpretation

2. In this Act, unless inconsistent with the context —

“Clerk” means the Clerk of Parliament or other person for the time being lawfully performing the functions of that office;

“committee” means a committee of the whole Parliament, or any sessional, select, or other committee of Parliament;

“contempt” includes any breach of privilege of Parliament and the commission of any offence mentioned in Part 5;

“court” includes an Industrial Arbitration Court established, and any board of inquiry appointed, under the Industrial Relations Act 1960;

“journals” means the votes and proceedings of Parliament, the official reports or records of the proceedings thereof, and the minutes or records of the proceedings of any committee;

“Member” means a Member of Parliament and shall, where the context so admits, include the Speaker;

“officer of Parliament” means the Clerk or any Assistant Clerk of Parliament, the Serjeant‑at‑Arms and such other officers or persons as may be appointed to the staff of Parliament, and includes any person employed temporarily in Parliament and any police officer acting under the orders of the Speaker, the Clerk or the Serjeant‑at‑Arms;

“Parliament” includes a committee and, where the context so admits, the place or places appointed under Article 64(2) of the Constitution for holding sessions of Parliament;

“police officer” has the same meaning as in the Police Force Act 2004;

“Speaker” means the Speaker and, in his absence, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and includes any other Member when such other Member is presiding at a sitting of Parliament or a committee of the whole Parliament;

“Standing Orders” means the Standing Orders of Parliament for the time being in force;

“stranger” means any person who is not a Member or officer of Parliament.

[4/2021]