Parliamentary privilege in the United Kingdom

Since the late 15th century, members of the Commons enjoyed 'an undefined right to freedom of speech, as a matter of tradition rather than by virtue of a privilege'.

[8] One of the flashpoints that led to the English Civil War was the attempted arrest by King Charles I of the Five Members for treason, which Parliament viewed as being in violation of its ancient liberties.

[2] There are multiple modern examples of Members exercising the right to parliamentary privilege, most notably related to freedom of speech and immunity from prosecution.

[14] As an example, this was used in 2009 by Private Eye editor Ian Hislop when giving evidence to a select committee on press standards, privacy and libel, to publish details of a legal threat received confidentially from the lawyers of Richard Granger.

[15] Members of the Scottish Parliament do not have parliamentary privilege,[16] however the Scotland Act 1998 incorporates a number of legal protections for parliamentary debate and reporting, including absolute privilege for the purpose of the law of defamation, limits to the remedies which can be ordered by courts against the Parliament in civil cases, and qualified protection from strict liability contempt under the Contempt of Court Act 1981.