The Government of England (Vol. I)

by A. Lawrence Lowell

A committee on divorce bills is still provided for in the rules, but since the power of granting divorces in England and Scotland has been entirely transferred to the courts, bills of this kind have become rare. While the various private bill committees are thus formed in slightly different ways, their mode of dealing with the measures that come before them is the same.

Locus Standi.

The bills referred to these committees have been described as "opposed," but that implies an opponent, and means, not an objector in the House, but an outside contestant on the basis of interest, for the chief object of these committees is a judicial hearing of opposing parties. If there is no opponent, so that the question is solely whether the privileges sought are consistent with the public welfare, the bill is said to be unopposed, and goes through quite a different procedure to be described hereafter. Plainly, therefore, the question who may oppose a bill, and on what grounds, is of vital importance. A person who enjoys the right is said to have a locus standi; and the first question to be decided is whether an opponent does or does not have it.

Now, any one who wishes to oppose a bill must, on or before Feb. 12, file a petition in the Private Bill Office, stating the ground of his objection,[373:2] and if the promoters contest his right to appear,[373:3] the question of locus standi is decided by the Court of Referees, consisting of the Chairman of Ways and Means, the Deputy Chairman, and not less than seven members of the House appointed by the Speaker. The Counsel to Mr. Speaker assists the court, but sits now only as an assessor.[373:4] The principal divergence in the procedure of the two Houses arises at this point, for questions of locus standi are determined in the House of Lords by the committee that considers the bill; and there is some difference of opinion about the relative merits of the two systems.[374:1] In both Houses the decisions are governed partly by express provisions in the standing orders,[374:2] and partly by precedents that have hardened into rules.

Grounds of Locus Standi.

In order to have a locus standi, an opponent must, as a rule, show that the bill may affect his property or business. He must prove a personal interest distinct from that of the rest of the community. Moreover, it is a general principle that, except on the ground of some special injury to themselves, both individuals and public boards are precluded from opposing before a private bill committee a public body on which they are represented. If, for example, a borough proposes to construct and work a tramway, an omnibus company has a right to be heard in opposition, but a rate-payer who believes that the plan will be financially disastrous has not.[374:3]

It is, of course, unnecessary to describe here all the kinds of private interest that will furnish a locus standi.[374:4] But in general, it may be said that the right is enjoyed by all persons whose land is to be compulsorily taken; by the owners and occupiers of buildings along the line of a proposed tramway; by traders affected by the tolls, fares, or rates proposed;[374:5] by public authorities; and sometimes by inhabitants acting on behalf of a county, town, or district, that is or may be affected. Competition, also, is a ground for locus standi, although the right to appear is usually confined to monopolies, to organisations that represent the trade as a whole, or to individuals whose business is important enough to represent that trade;[375:1] moreover the privilege is extended by the standing orders to chambers of agriculture, commerce or shipping.[375:2] While, therefore, the rules of locus standi are not perfectly logical, they are distinctly based upon private interest, individual or collective, and not upon the general welfare.

Hearing before the Committee.

The hearing of the parties before the committee follows the pattern of a trial in a court of law, even to the standing of the counsel employed. Up to this point the parties have been represented by parliamentary agents, who, although not necessarily attorneys or solicitors, hold a similar position, and must be registered in the Private Bill Office.[375:3] The actual hearings, however, like trials in court, are conducted by barristers. The fees, which are large, attract a high order of talent, and in fact the practice before private bill committees has become almost a distinct branch of the profession, the counsel who pursue it being known as the parliamentary bar.[375:4] The proceedings are strictly judicial in form, the barristers examining and cross-examining the witnesses and making the arguments in the ordinary way. Moreover, if either party has vexatiously subjected the other to expense, the committee can award costs like a court of law, and this is occasionally done.[375:5]

The first thing taken up is the preamble, the hearing upon this involving the general merits of the bill, so that if the committee is of opinion that promoters have failed to prove that part of their case, it reports at once against the bill. Otherwise the clauses are taken up in order, and the committee reports the bill with or without amendments.