For example, the
House of Lords Reform Act 2014 ensures that a member convicted of a serious offence will cease to be a member of the House. A ‘serious offence’ means a criminal offence where the member has been sentenced for one year or more, or ordered to be detained indefinitely. ‘Ceasing to be a member’ means that the person is disqualified from attending House proceedings and is no longer entitled to receive a writ of summons, nor can they attend in pursuance of a writ already received. However, their peerage title remains.
The act brought the House of Lords onto the same footing as the House of Commons, whereby any MP convicted and imprisoned for one year or more is automatically disqualified from the House of Commons and their seat vacated. This is provided by the Representation of the People Act 1981. The House of Lords Reform Act 2014 was initially introduced in the House of Commons as a private member’s bill by Dan Byles (then Conservative MP for North Warwickshire).
Following the commencement of the 2014 act, the updated
House of Lords Code of Conduct provides that any member who is imprisoned in the UK will be deemed to have breached the code. Therefore, if a member’s conviction does not fall within the remit of the 2014 act (for example, where the sentence received is less than 12 months imprisonment), their case will be referred to the House of Lords Conduct Committee for it to recommend a sanction. The code includes similar provisions for members sentenced to imprisonment outside of the UK.
Most recently, the
House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015 enabled the House to expel or suspend a member by resolution in circumstances other than for non-attendance or being sentenced to over a year in prison (as already provided for by the House of Lords Reform Act 2014). Those expelled would cease to be a member of the House, whereas those suspended would not be entitled to receive a writ of summons during the suspension period. The 2015 act started as a private member’s bill introduced in the House of Lords by Baroness Hayman (Crossbench).