You just know Congress is taking notes
Three members of Parliament face criminal charges over their allegedly-fraudulent expense accounts, and while they of course maintain their innocence, they argue that their very trials are invalid:
Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine, all of whom are charged with false accounting under the Theft Act and face jail terms of up to seven years if found guilty, waited at the back of the court instead of entering the dock.
This was because they are arguing that the case against them should not be heard in court at all. They believe they are protected from prosecution by parliamentary privilege enshrined in the 1689 Bill of Rights and that the House of Commons should decide their fate.
[T]he freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.
See? It’s not a legal matter at all. It’s just part of the routine in Parliament.
Evidently not all Britons are buying this premise:
The MPs were jeered by protestors as they entered court, one man dressed as a pig shouting: “Oink, oink”. And when they climbed into a cab after the brief hearing, a voice in the crowd called: “Don’t forget to get a receipt”.
A spot of tea, anyone?
