The Express.
London, England, 1847-11-12 00:00:00

COURT OF EXCHEQUER.

Sittings in Sane.
GOODE O. DUNCOMBS, M.P.—MIK/MU OF PARLIA-
MENT PRIVILEGED FROM ARREST FOR DEBT.—Mr. Willed
renewed the motion in this ease which he had mentioned on
Saturday last. It was for a rule calling on the defendant to
show cause why the order of Mr. Justice Williams, made
during the long vacation, for the discharge of the
defendant from the custody of the Sheriff of York-
shire, should not be rescinded. The facto were
very few. The plaintiff, Miss Chudy, recovered a judgment
in this court and sued out a writ of espies ad satisfaciendura,
directed to the Sheriff of Yorkshire, who arrested the defen-
dant under it. Oa the 3rd of September last a summons
before • judge at chambers was taken out, calling on the
plaintiff to show cause why Mr. Buncombe should not be
released from custody, on the ground that he was privileged
from arrest as a member of the House of Commons. On the
7th of September Mr. Justice Williams made the order in
question. It then appeared that the defendant bad been
elected • member of parliament, which at that time stood
prorogued until the 21st of September. The order was made
by the learned judge, upon the impression, which generally
prevailed, that members of parliament are entitled to privi- '
lege from arrest for debt, fur 40 days before and after its
meeting. But although that opinion was very prevalent,
the learned counsel submitted that evidence was nowhere to
be found that it rested upon satisfactory authority. The only
privilege originally claimed, according to all the cues Ulu
books, wee for "a convenient or reasonable time be-
fore and after the meeting of parliament." That
applied to cases so early as the sixteenth century,
and it was quite plain that what would now
be considered " a reasonable and convenient time" for any
member to repair from his home, even if situated in the
most extreme limit of the kingdom, to Westminster, would
have been then looked upon as very different. In 1526, the
case of a Mr. Martyn, who had been arrested for debt, was
brought before the House of Commons, and, even at that
early period, all that was claimed was " a convenient and
reasonable time," as the limit of their privilege. In 1807,
Mr. Sheridan was arrested within a very few days after the
dissolution of the Howie of Commons, and that arrest was
never afterwards questioned. He was arrested upon the
opinion of the late Mr. Baron Willey, then at the bar, who
thought that the privilege should not exceed " • reasonable
time." The debt was however paid, and the matter dropped.
Nothing could be more absurd than to say that, with the
facilities of transit afforded by modern inventions, 20 days
were a reasonable and convenient time for travelling from
one end of the kingdom to the other. Another objec-
tion to the order was that the learned judge had taken upon
him to determine what was " • reasonable time." The
learned counsel then cited " May, on the Laws of Parlia-
ment," which contains • resiew ul all the ewes ; at page 94
that author stated, that the prevalent opinion that the
privilege of members of parliament was to be for 40 days
rested on no precise authority." Forty days might have
been chimed in the 16th century because that was considered
a reasonable time, but the question was, what should be now
considered a reasonable time, considering our improved
means of transit and the completely altered circumstances of
society since that period ?
Baron Parke Mined the generally received notion