Nature composition and functions of the House of Lords
1) Introduction
● The House of Lords is the oldest house in the world and it had been in continuous existence from more than a thousand years and it is consisted on mostly hereditary members
● It is the upper house of the British Parliament it is generally stated that the house of lord is hereditary house
● House of Lord is the second chamber of the British Parliament and it works with the House of common in order to make law and check and challenge the actions of the government
2) Composition of house of lords
The members of the House of Lords have been categorized in seven
1. Hereditary peers
● About nine-tenth of the members belong to this category.
● Peerage is being granted by the crown he can create many peers as he like
● The majority of people become peer because there are a number of routes to becoming the member of House of lord
2. Representative peers of Scotland
● According to the Treaty of Union 1707 , 16 numbers of representative peers are being elected by the Scottish parliament in order to sit House of Lord
● Because the Kingdom of Scots and the Kingdom of England were combined under the name of Great Britain ever
3. Representative peers of Ireland
● When Ireland was combined with England, 128 members of the Irish peers were entitled representative peers, but since 1922 when Ireland declared a free state no new peer have been created
4. Lords of Appeal
● Lords of Appeals are commonly known as Law lords
● They are 9 in numbers and were appointed into the House of Lords in United Kingdom, under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 in order to exercise their judicial functions
5. Spiritual peers
● They are 26 in numbers, two are ArchBishops of York and Canterbury and 24 are senior Bishops of the church of England
6. Princes of the Royal Blood
● Those male adult members of royal family who have attained maturity and are in specific relationship are being appointed as members of House of Lords
7. Life peers
● These members have been created under the provision of the Life peerage act 1958.
● A life Peer cannot pass their title to their children. Although life Peers are appointed by the Queen, it is the Prime Minister who nominates them
● They are the person who were performing their duties in High offices in the state and has been retired e.g. Minister or speaker etc
3) Number of members
● The number of members is not fixed . The number of members varies from time to time. As well as selection of members is depends upon the will of Queen
4) Nature of House
● The house of lords is called conservative chamber. It also was commonly described as the hereditary chamber of the parliament
● It is partially hereditary and partially democratic in composition
● Hereditary and life peerage both are being created by the crown on the advice of Prime Minister
5) Disqualification
Following person cannot become the members of the House of Lords. Detail is as under:
1) Insane
2) Minor
3) Convict (Criminal)
4) Bankrupt
6) Presiding officer
● The House of lord is presided by a Lord Chancellor who is member of the cabinet
7) Privileges of the house of lord
Following mentioned privileges are available to the House of Lords
1) Freedom of speech
● The lords of this house can openly express their views upon any issue without any kind of pressure
2) Freedom from arrest
● No member can be arrested during the parliament session. This one is a protective right which has been granted to members House of Lords
3) Free access to the sovereign
● Every member of the House of lord has access to sovereign in order to discuss public affair
4) Right to determine its own composition
● The lords have the right to determine their own compositions. They can elect more people as members of the House of Lords. There are no restrictions upon them for selection of new members
5) Right to publish opinion
● The lords can publish their useful opinions in official papers and there is no official restriction upon them in this regard
6) Right to receive writs of summons
● They have right to receive individual writs of summons to attend parliament
7) Trial of impeachment(Mawakhaza) cases
● They have the right to trial impeachment cases forwarded by the House of Commons
8) Exemption
● They enjoy the exemptions from serving as juror (Jury ka Rukan) and they don’t play the role as juror
9) Determinations of Peerage
● The House of lord has a right of determination the disputed claims of their peerage
8) Powers and functions of house of lords
Following are the powers of House of lord
1. Legislative powers
After the passing of Parliament act 1911, the legislative powers of the House of Lords can be discussed under the following heads:
a) As regards money bills
● As regards money bills the House of Lords is practically ineffective. All the money bills forwarded by House of Common to House of Lords ,cannot be delayed for more than
one month otherwise it would be presented to the King and would become the law on receiving the royal assent (Manzoori) and House of lord cannot conflict with it
b) As regards non money bills
● As regard Non-money bills the House of Lords is practically effective
● Other public bills cannot be delayed by the House of Lords for more than two parliamentary sessions, or one calendar year it would would become the law on receiving the royal assent regardless its having been rejected by the House of Lords
● The House of Lords has almost lost its significance
2. Executive powers
● The Lords have the powers to ask questions from the government and have a full right to debate its policies but the house can only cross examine the cabinet ministers
3. Judicial powers
● The House of Lords had three kinds of judicial powers in this regard
1) It has judicial power to trial peer in case if they are involved in any activities against national interest
2) It also acts as the highest court of appeal in U.K
3) It has judicial power to hear impeachment cases forwarded to the House of Commons
4. Other powers
● The House of Lords performs other important functions and discusses such social and political questions which are not ready for legislation
9) Conclusion
● The House of lords is an ancient institutions of the world which play pivotal role in legislation
● A lot of powers have been snatched for House of lords by passing Parliament act 1911
● Keeping all the functions of the House of lords in view it is to be said that House of lords are still superior in nature and have more powers other than house