Member News
The government's Parliamentary Standards Bill has faced fresh criticism for being rushed, breaching human rights and undermining the Commons.
A report from Parliament's joint committee on human rights noted "with a certain irony" that while the Bill is designed to restore public confidence in the Commons, "it is being rushed into the statute book and will not receive proper scrutiny".
The Bill creates a new commissioner for parliamentary investigations who will investigate breaches of the rules on allowances and interests, and an Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) which can sanction MPs in response to a commissioner's report, or recommend sanctions to the Commons.
But the joint committee warned that if complaints are made against MPs, they were not guaranteed a fair hearing.
Tuesday's report said that "if the current Bill is enacted in its present form, it is only a matter of time before Strasbourg makes a finding of a violation of a member’s right to a fair hearing".
The MPs and peers said there should be a right of appeal to the judicial committee of the Privy Council "against decisions of both the IPSA and the House of Commons which amount either to the determination of a criminal charge or which determine a member's civil rights".
Meanwhile, giving evidence to the Commons justice committee, clerk of the Commons Malcolm Jack renewed his warning that the Bill could have a "chilling effect" on free speech in Parliament.
He said the tradition of 'parliamentary privilege', which protects statements in the Commons from being used in court cases, was being undermined.
Noting that privilege had been affected in different parliamentary acts, he warned: "Eventually you will undermine the whole principle."
Jack also said he was "not convinced" by the government's suggestion that the proposed changes were "low risk".
Meanwhile, as the Bill was discussed in the Commons, Conservative backbencher Sir Patrick Cormack said ministers were taking legislation with "significant constitutional significance through the House at a gallop".
There was "widespread concerns in all parts of the House about what they are doing and the speed with which they are doing it", he added.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd