Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Law
No Longer A Privileged Few: Expense Claims, Prosecution And Parliamentary Privilege, Yvonne Tew
No Longer A Privileged Few: Expense Claims, Prosecution And Parliamentary Privilege, Yvonne Tew
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
THE publication of the expenses claims of Members of Parliament by the Daily Telegraph in 2009 revealed false claims made by MPs for costs incurred in the performance of their Parliamentary duties. David Chaytor, James Devine, and Elliot Morley, three MPs, were subsequently charged with false accounting, under section 17(l)(b) of the Theft Act 1968, for claiming non-existent expenses. The MPs argued that the criminal courts did not have jurisdiction to try their cases because they were protected by parliamentary privilege. This contention was rejected in the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal. The Lord Chief Justice, giving judgment …