Annex 1: Process and procedure
The Committee set out its own view of its intended procedures in the inquiry in a Resolution on Procedure agreed on 19 July 2022, and in its Second Report of Session 2022–23, published on 21 July 2022.[1]
Criticisms of the Committee’s procedures have been set out in three legal Opinions commissioned by Mr Johnson from Lord Pannick KC and Jason Pobjoy:
- The first Opinion was published by HM Government on 2 September 2022, when Mr Johnson was Prime Minister, without notice to the Committee. The Committee responded to the Opinion in its Third Report of Session 2022–23, published on 26 September 2022.[2]
- The second Opinion was published by the Committee at the same time that it published its Fourth Report of Session 2022–23, on 3 March 2023.[3] The Committee gave consideration to the Opinion and commented that it “has nothing further to add to its comments in the Third Report” (Fourth Report, Para 15, footnote 14).
- The third Opinion is published at the same time as the present report,[4] together with comments on it by the Committee’s legal adviser, Sir Ernest Ryder, which the Committee endorses.[5]
The Committee sets out below answers to questions about its process and procedure, including those frequently posed by Mr Johnson and his supporters. Quotations in the questions below are taken from Mr Johnson’s public statement of 9 June 2023 (set out as Appendix 3 to this report) or his earlier submissions to the Committee.
Questions and answers
1. Is the Committee ‘Labour-dominated’?
By convention, select committees are nominated (insofar as is possible) in proportion to party representation in the House. The Committee of Privileges contains four Conservative MPs, two Labour MPs and one Scottish National Party MP. By convention the Chair has been appointed from the principal Opposition party. (Until Mr Bryant recused himself from the present referral, the elected members of the Committee of Privileges and the Committee on Standards have been the same (the latter committee having also lay members); under Standing Order No. 122B the Chair of the Standards Committee is required to be a member of the official Opposition).
- ↑ Committee of Privileges, Second Report of Session 2022–23, Matter referred on 21 April 2022: proposed conduct of inquiry (HC 632), published 21 July 2022
- ↑ Committee of Privileges, Third Report of Session 2022–23, Matter referred on 21 April 2022: comments on joint opinion of Lord Pannick QC and Jason Pobjoy (HC 713), published 26 September 2022
- ↑ Committee of Privileges, Fourth Report of Session 2022–23, Matter referred on 21 April 2022: summary of issues to be raised with Mr Johnson (HC 1203), published 3 March 2023
- ↑ Third Opinion of Lord Pannick KC and Jason Pobjoy dated 24 April 2023
- ↑ Response of Sir Ernest Ryder, Legal Adviser to the Committee, to the Third Opinion of Lord Pannick KC and Jason Pobjoy
