To an action of trespass against the Speaker of the House of Commons forcibly and with the assistance of armed soldiers, breaking into the messuage of the Plainttiff (the outer door being shut and fastened), and arresting him there, and taking him to the Tower of London, and imprisoning there : it is a legal justification to plead that a Parliament was held which was sitting during the period of the trespasses complained of : that the Plaintiff was a member of the House of Commons : and that the House having resolved, ‘that a certain letter, etc. in Cobbett’s Weekly Register was a libellous and scandalous paper, reflecting on the just rights and privileges of the House, and that the Plaintiff, who had admitted that the said Ietter, etc. was printed by his authority, had been thereby guilty of a breach of the privileges of that House ; and having ordered that, for his said offence, he should be committed to the Tower, and that the Speaker should issue his warrant accordingly ; the Defendant as Speaker, in execution of the said order, issued his warrant to the Serjeant at Arms, to
whom the execution of such warrant belonged, to arrest the plaintiff and to commit him to the custody of the Lieutenant of the Tower : and issued another warrant to the Lieutenant of the Tower to receive and detain the Plaintiff in custody during the pleasure of the House ; by virtue of which first warrant the Serjeant at Arms went to the messuage of the Plaintiff,
where he then was, to execute it; and because the outer door was fastened, and he could not enter, after audible notification of his purpose and demand made of admission, he, by the assistance of the said soldiers, broke and entered the Plaintiff’s messuage, and arrested and conveyed him to the Tower, where he was received and detained in custody under the other warrant by the Lieutenant of the Tower. And to a similar action against the Serjeant at Arms, a similar plea, with variations, however, adapted to his situation, is a legal justification.
The Lord Chancellor considering it as clear in law that the House of Commons have the power of committing for contempt, and that this was a commitment for contempt. Lord Erskine concurring.
Citations:
[1817] EngR 614, (1817) 5 Dow PC 165, (1817) 3 ER 1289
Links:
Citing:
At Kings Bench – Sir Francis Burdett, Bart v The Right Hon Charles Abbot KBD 1811
Speaker’s Powers to Arrest House Members
To an action of trespass against the Speaker of the House of Commons for forcibly, and, with the assistance of armed soldiers, breaking into the messuage of the plaintiff (the outer door being shut and fastened,) and arresting him there, and taking . .
Appeal from – Burdett, Bart v The Right Honourable Charles Abbot CA 22-Apr-1812
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Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Constitutional
Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.333464