header-logo header-logo

12 September 2025
Issue: 8130 / Categories: Legal News , Constitutional law
printer mail-detail

NLJ this week: Parliamentary privilege—shield or sword?

229571
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
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

WSP Solicitors—David Ashcroft & Jessica O’Shea

WSP Solicitors—David Ashcroft & Jessica O’Shea

Commercial property and child law teams expand with senior hires

Duxton Hill Chambers—Lucas Bastin KC & Joshua Hiew

Duxton Hill Chambers—Lucas Bastin KC & Joshua Hiew

Set expands London and Singapore offering with senior international disputes hires

Gilson Gray—Gregor Duthie & Stephen Forsyth

Gilson Gray—Gregor Duthie & Stephen Forsyth

Firm strengthens real estate and litigation teams with partner promotions

NEWS
Uber has built a formidable strategy for insulating itself from liability for drivers’ conduct, but the legal terrain differs sharply between the US and England and Wales
The Civil Justice Council’s review of Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 could mark the end of what one commentator calls an ‘outdated’ and overly technical regime governing solicitor-client fee disputes
The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 marks a constitutional watershed by severing the centuries-old link between hereditary titles and automatic membership of the upper chamber
Artificial intelligence, proportionality and public decision-making are under increasing judicial scrutiny, according to the latest public law round-up from Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
Families relying on informal agreements over property ownership could face costly consequences if disputes arise, the High Court has warned
back-to-top-scroll