Quaid-e-Azam Law College

Lahore
Prof. Salman Kazmi
LL.M (London)
British Constitutional Law

THE HOUSE OF LORDS

1. INTRODUCTION

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and
the members are commonly referred as "the Lords" or “Peers”. The Parliament
comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons (which is the lower house of
Parliament and referred to as "the Commons"), and the Lords. In Parliament the 823
members of the House of Lords currently outnumber the members of the 650 seat
House of Commons.
The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. It is independent
from, and complements the work of, the House of Commons. Members of the house
of Lords play a vital role making laws and keeping a check on government.

2. HISTORICAL PRESPECTIVE OF HOUSE OF LORDS

 Parliament developed from the council that advised the King. This royal
council came to be composed of noblemen and representatives of the counties.
The first Parliament is often considered to be the "Model Parliament" (held in
1295)
 Most importantly, it was during this King's reign that Parliament clearly
separated into two distinct chambers: the House of Commons and the House
of Lords.
 The authority of Parliament continued to grow, and, during the early fifteenth
century, both Houses exercised powers to an extent not seen before.
 The Lords were far more powerful than the Commons .The House of Lords
remained more powerful than the House of Commons, but the Lower House
did continue to grow in influence, reaching an equal relation to the House of
Lords during the middle 17th century.
 Conflicts between the King and the Parliament (for the most part, the House of
Commons) ultimately led to the English Civil War during the 1640s. In 1649,
after the defeat and execution of King Charles I, was declared, but the nation
was effectively under the overall control of Oliver Cromwell. The House of
 Quaid-e-Azam Law College
Lahore
Prof. Salman Kazmi
LL.M (London)
British Constitutional Law

Lords was reduced to a largely powerless body, with Cromwell and his
supporters in the Commons dominating the Government.
 On 19 March 1649, the House of Lords was abolished by an Act of
Parliament, which declared that "The Commons of England [find] by too long
experience that the House of Lords is useless and dangerous to the people of
England."
 The House of Lords did not assemble again until the Convention Parliament
met in 1660 and the monarchy was restored. It returned to its former position
as the more powerful chamber of Parliament—a position it would occupy until
the 19th century.
 The 19th century was marked by several changes to the House of Lords. The
Parliament Act 1911 effectively abolished the power of the House of Lords to
reject legislation, or to amend in a way unacceptable to the House of
Commons: most bills could be delayed for no more than three parliamentary
sessions or two calendar years. In financial bills, house of lords can be delayed
it for only 30 days.
 It was not meant to be a permanent solution; more comprehensive reforms
were planned. Neither party, however, pursued the matter with much
enthusiasm, and the House of Lords remained primarily hereditary. In 1949,
the Parliament Act reduced the delaying power of the House of Lords further
to two sessions or one year.

 The Labour Party included in its 1997 General Election Manifesto a

commitment to remove the hereditary peerage from the House of Lords. Their
subsequent election victory in 1997 under Tony Blair finally heralded the
demise of the traditional House of Lords. The Labour Government introduced
legislation to expel all hereditary peers from the Upper House as a first step in
Lords reform. As a part of a compromise, however, it agreed to permit 92
hereditary peers to remain until the reforms were complete. Thus all but 92
 Quaid-e-Azam Law College
Lahore
Prof. Salman Kazmi
LL.M (London)
British Constitutional Law

hereditary peers were expelled under the House of Lords Act 1999, making
the House of Lords predominantly an appointed house.

 Since 1999 however, no further reform has taken place.

3. COMPOSITION OF HOUSE OF LORDS

 QUALIFICATIONS OF LORDS.

Several different qualifications apply for membership of the House of Lords. No

person may sit in the House of Lords if under the age of 21. Furthermore, only
Commonwealth citizens and citizens of the Republic of Ireland may sit in the House
of Lords. The nationality restrictions were previously more strict: under the Act of
Settlement 1701, and prior to the British Nationality Act 1948, only natural-born
subjects were qualified.

In the case of the Lords of Appeal, No person may be created as Lord of Appeal in
Ordinary unless he or she has either held "high judicial office" for two years, or has
been a practicing barrister for fifteen years. The judicial role of the House of Lords as
the highest court of appeal in the UK has ended on 30 th July 2009 when Supreme
Court established in UK

 DISQUALIFICATION OF THE MEMBER OF HOUSE

 Insane
 Minor
 Convict
 bankrupt

 CATEGORIES OF PEERS (Different Types of Lords)

Today there are various routes by which Members are appointed to the House
and there are three main categories of Lords. The Lords currently has
around 790 Members, and there are three different types: life Peers, bishops
and elected hereditary Peers. Unlike MPs, the public do not elect the Lords.
The majority are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime
Minister or the House of Lords Appointments Commission.
 Quaid-e-Azam Law College
Lahore
Prof. Salman Kazmi
LL.M (London)
British Constitutional Law

(1) Life Peers

Appointed for their lifetime only, these Lords' titles are not passed on to their
children. The Queen formally appoints life Peers on the advice and recommendation
of the Prime Minister.

(2) Archbishops and bishops

A limited number of 26 Church of England archbishops and bishops sit in the House,
passing their membership on to the next most senior bishop when they retire. The
Archbishops of Canterbury and York traditionally get life peerages on retirement.

(3) Elected hereditary Peers

These Lords' titles are passed on to their children . The right of hereditary Peers to sit
and vote in the House of Lords was ended in 1999 by the House of Lords Act but 92
Members were elected internally to remain until the next stage of the Lords reform
process.

NEW EDITION OF LORD SPEAKER

With the passage of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the post of Lord Speaker
was created, a position to which a peer is elected by the House and subsequently
appointed by The Crown. The first Lord Speaker to be elected, on May 4, 2006, is
Baroness Hayman, a former Labour peer. As the Speaker is expected to be an
impartial presiding officer, Baroness Hayman has resigned from the Labour Party.
The Lord Speaker is elected for a maximum term of five years, and may serve a
maximum of two terms. Before Lord Speaker, Lord Chancellor presided the sessions
of House of Lords.

4. RELATIONSHIP OF HOUSE OF LORDS WITH THE GOVT

Unlike the House of Commons, the House of Lords does not control the term of the
Prime Minister or of the Government. Only House of Commons may force the Prime
Minister to resign or call elections by passing a motion of no-confidence or by
withdrawing supply. Thus, the House of Lords' oversight of the government is
limited.
5. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF HOUSE OF LORDS

The House of Lords is the second Chamber of the British Parliament.

It plays an important part in revising legislation and keeping a
check on Government by scrutinizing its activities. It complements
 Quaid-e-Azam Law College
Lahore
Prof. Salman Kazmi
LL.M (London)
British Constitutional Law

the work of the Commons, whose members are elected to represent

their constituents. Members of the Lords are not elected and are
unpaid. They have a wide range of experience and provide a source
of independent expertise.

Powers of the House of Lords decreased by the Parliamentary Act 1911 and 1949,
now they have limited powers of law making. Some of them are mentioned below,

Legislative Powers

The House spends about two thirds (60%) of its time on legislation.
It examines and revises Bills from the Commons. It also initiates
Bills which are usually noncontroversial.
Increasingly, a bigger share of Government Bills starts in the Lords,
to spread the legislative loads more evenly throughout the
parliamentary year between the two Houses.

 Revision of Bills sent by the House of Commons

 To send back the non-money bills to House of Commons for some
modifications
 To discuss non-money bills in detail but not more than specified time
period(one year or Two sessions)
 To discuss money bill for one month
 To initiate Non money Bills in the House

Executive Powers

 Right to debate over policies of the government

 Power to ask questions from the government
 Enjoy the share in the membership of the Cabinet

Judicial Powers

Before 30th July 2009, the House of Lords acted as Highest Court of Appeal in UK.
The jurisdiction of the House of Lords was up till the civil and criminal cases, to
 Quaid-e-Azam Law College
Lahore
Prof. Salman Kazmi
LL.M (London)
British Constitutional Law

appeals from the courts of England, Scotland and Wales, and of Northern Ireland.
Now, Supreme Court exercised the powers as Highest Court of Appeal.

A distinct judicial function—one in which the whole House, rather than just the Law
Lords, may participate—was that of trying impeachments. Impeachments were
brought by the House of Commons, and tried in the House of Lords; a conviction
required only a majority of the Lords voting.

6. PRIVILEGES FOR THE MEMBERS OF HOUSE OF LORDS

 FREEDOM OF SPEECH
 FREE ACCESS TO THE SOVEREIGN
 RIGHT TO DETERMINE ITS OWN COMPOSITION
 RIGHT TO PUBLIC OPINION
 RIGHT TO PUNISH FOR CONTEMPT
 FREEDOM FROM ARREST
 RIGHT TO IMPEACH CERTAIN PERSONS
 DETERMINATION OF PEERAGE/ determine the qualification of Peer

7. JUSTIFICATIONS FOR THE CONTINUANCE OF THE HOUSE

 TRADITIONAL HOUSE
British Constitution is a custom based Law. Major portion of the British
Constitution is derived from the traditions, usages and practices of General
Public. House of Lords is a traditional House so it should be maintained in the
British Parliament as a Tradition of British Political practices.

 DETAILED EXAMINATION OF FACTS

When there are two chambers of a Parliament, the proposed bill would be
considered by the Parliament in detail.
 REVISION
In presence of second chamber of the Parliament, bill passed by one chamber
can be revised or reviewed by other chamber for any suggestion, modification
or improvement.
 MORE TIME TO DISCUSS BILLS
Where the Parliament consists of two chambers, a bill can be discussed for
extra time and bill may not be passed in hurry. Both Chambers can spend
 Quaid-e-Azam Law College
Lahore
Prof. Salman Kazmi
LL.M (London)
British Constitutional Law

reasonable time in examining the contents of the bill before passing it to make
law of the land.
 HOUSE OF EXPERIENCED & QUALIFIED PERSONS
House of Lords consists of experienced, well qualified and learned persons. It
is not elected house but nominated by the Queen on the recommendation of
PM or House of Lords Appointment Commission
 MEMBERSHIPON THE BASIS OF QUALIFICATION
Members of this chamber may be appointed on the basis of their qualifications
not on the basis of their popularity in the public.
 WAY TO MAKE PUBLIC OPINION
When Parliament has two chambers, on passing of a bill by one chamber, the
public can respond to the proposed law making and the same can be
considered by second chamber during discussions on the bill.
No Financial Load on Annual Budget of Parliament.
Existence of House of Lords does not affect on Annual Budget of Parliament
as its members do not receive any salary.

8. CONCLUSION