Misbehaving Members of Parliament and How to Deal with Them

Abstract

The recent scandals in the United Kingdom and New Zealand Parliaments involving the misuse of parliamentary and ministerial expenses regimes have provided an opportunity to revisit the question of how best to monitor and regulate the conduct of Members of Parliament. Four possible forms of regulation are examined: Codes of Conduct, parliamentary privilege, an independent external regulator, and the device of the recall election. In the wake of the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal, an independent regulator (the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority) has been established in the UK, and legislation introducing the recall election has been promised. The New Zealand Parliament has not moved towards either of these forms of regulation, preferring to rely on parliamentary privilege and various codes of conduct. This essay explores various policy design issues that will have to be addressed in the legislation governing recall elections and considers its suitability for application to the New Zealand Parliament elected using the Mixed Member Proportional system. It concludes that ultimately, the system chosen for regulating the conduct of Members of Parliament will reflect decisions about constitutional priorities.