The special rights, immunities and exemptions enjoyed by the two Houses of Parliament collectively and by their members and committees individually, so that they can function freely and with authority. State legislatures enjoy parallel privileges.
- Granted by Article 105 (Parliament) and Article 194 (State Legislatures); both also extend privileges to persons who speak in or take part in proceedings, such as the Attorney General or a Minister who is not a member.
- Individual privileges include freedom of speech in the House (subject to the Constitution and rules), immunity from court proceedings for anything said or any vote given in the House, and freedom from arrest in civil cases during, before and after a session for a defined period.
- Collective privileges include the right to publish proceedings, exclude strangers, punish members and outsiders for contempt or breach of privilege, and regulate internal proceedings free of court interference (Article 122 and Article 212 bar courts from questioning procedure).
- A breach of privilege or contempt of the House is raised through a concept privilege motion; the House can reprimand, admonish or imprison.
- Privileges have not been codified into a comprehensive law; the Constitution leaves them to be defined by Parliament, and until then they rest on those of the House of Commons as they stood at the commencement of the Constitution (as amended, the reference is now to the powers actually enjoyed).
Articles 105 and 194 and the freedom-of-speech and freedom-from-arrest immunities are standard recall, often paired with the privilege motion and the courts' limited reach into House proceedings.
The freedom from arrest covers civil cases only, not criminal cases or preventive detention; freedom of speech in the House is immune from court action but still bound by House rules.
Articles 105 and 194: collective and individual immunities (free speech, immunity for House speech and votes, freedom from civil arrest during sessions) that protect the legislature's functioning.