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12 September 2025
Issue: 8130 / Categories: Legal News , Constitutional law
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NLJ this week: Parliamentary privilege—shield or sword?

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Reflecting on personal experience, Professor Graham Zellick KC, Senior Master of the Bench and former Reader of the Middle Temple, questions the unchecked power of parliamentary privilege

Zellick recounts two cases: Sir Philip Green’s identity revealed in the Lords, breaching an injunction, and a backbench MP’s deliberate lie about Zellick, attacking his professional integrity. 

Both instances highlight the absolute nature of privilege under Article 9 of the Bill of Rights 1689, which protects legislators from legal consequences but leaves victims without redress.

Zellick argues that the privilege, while fundamental to democracy, is vulnerable to abuse and lacks effective regulation.

Issue: 8130 / Categories: Legal News , Constitutional law
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys senior leadership appointments

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths strengthens London Construction and Engineering practice with two strategic senior hires

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins announces strategic hire to deepen skills base in the social business sector

NEWS
More than 100 teams from the legal and financial services sectors competed in five sports at the 51st Law Society RFC Festival of Sport earlier this month
Part-time status need only be an effective cause of less favourable treatment, rather than the sole cause, the Supreme Court has held in Augustine v Data Cars
Britain’s new acknowledgement that Israel’s occupation is unlawful, and accompanying settlement-goods ban and sanctions, is significant but overdue, argue Danny Friedman KC and Victor Kattan in NLJ this week
New planning fee rises, wider trade union access rights and a service-by-email trap feature in Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way
Existing defamation law can respond to AI ‘hallucinations’, but allocating responsibility will prove harder where outputs reach users without human intervention
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