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NLJ this week: Parliamentary privilege—shield or sword?

12 September 2025
Issue: 8130 / Categories: Legal News , Constitutional law
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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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