Privy Council [1994] 3 All ER 407
Cruickshanks acted for the defendants. New Zealand television transmitted a programme alleging that the Hon Pebble, then the Minister for State-Owned Enterprises in New Zealand had secretly conspired with certain highly placed businessmen and public officials to give the businessmen an unfair opportunity when certain state-owned assets were privatised to obtain unduly favourable terms, and then following his sacking, arranged for incriminating documents and computer files to be either shredded or deleted. The claimant’s brought an action for libel against the defendant.
The basic concept underlying art 9 of the Bill of Rights was the need to ensure so far as possible that a member of Parliament and witnesses before committees of Parliament could speak freely without fear that what they said would later be held against them in court. That principle coupled with the wider principle that the courts and Parliament were both astute to recognise their respective constitutional roles and that the courts would not allow any challenge to be made to what was said or done within the walls of Parliament in performance of its legislative functions and proceedings.
A stay was not granted since the burden of the libel related to acts done by members of the government out of the House to which parliamentary privilege had no application and the allegations struck out were comparatively marginal.
