As to the constitution of parliament there were the great tenants in chief, lay and executive, sum moned by special writ and forming the House of Lords. Thus the peculiar English meaning of a peerage gradually was formed. All other classes of free tenants were represented by knights of the shire elected in the county court. Edward invited the burghers to send elected representatives to par liament and they eventually became a part of the House of Commons.
Records of writs summoning knights, burgesses, and citizens to parliament are first found towards the end of the reign of Henry III., such writs hav ing issued in the thirty-eighth and forty-ninth years of his reign. 4 Bla. Com. 425; Prynne, 4th Inst. 2. The earliest parliamentary roll is said to be 1290. 1 Poll. & Maitl, 178.
Since the reign of Edward III. the history of Eng land shows an almost constant increase in the power of parliament. Anne was the last sovereign who exercised the royal prerogative of veto; and, as this prerogative no longer practically exists, the authority of parliament is absolutely unrestrain ed. The parliament can only meet when convened by the sovereign, except on the demise of the sov ereign with no parliament in being, in which ease the last parliament is to assemble; 6 Anne, c. 7. The sovereign has also power to prorogue and dis solve the parliament.
The origin of the English parliament seems trace able to the witena-gemote of the Saxon kings. Encyc. Brit. A writer traces the origin back to the local institutions of the Germanic tribes, hut con siders that the final stages of its growth are to be sought in the period between the accession of Henry II. and the close of the reign of Edward I; 1 So cial Eng. 396.
The House of Lords. Besides the temporal peers of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, and such Scotch and Irish peers as also have im perial titles, the House of Lords includes sixteen Scotch peers elected for each parliament by the body of Scotch peers; twenty-eight Irish peers elected for life by the Irish peers; also the two English archbishops, and twenty-four of the English bishops. The total number of members varies, but may be placed at about six hundred and thirty eight.
The House of Lords exercises criminal jurisdic tion, both as a court of first instance and as a court of criminal appeal. It tries any person im peached by the House of Commons for any high crime or misdemeanor; also temporal peers ana peeresses accused of treason, felony or misprision. In such case the accused cannot waive his privilege to be so tried. In the latter case the indictment is found by the grand jury and removed to the House of Lords (or into the Court of the Lord High Stew ard, q. v.) by writ of certiorari. For the pur poses of the trial the house is presided over by a peer as Lord High Steward appointed by the king's commission, or in the absence of such appointment, by the Lord Chancellor. The judges may be sum moned to give their opinions on any questions of law that may arise. All the members of the House of Lords are entitled to be present, and when pres ent are judges of law and fact. A Lord High Steward, if presiding, may regulate the procedure, but is a judge of the law to no greater extent than any other peer. The bishops have a right to be present, but by common law may not vote in a capital case, and so withdraw before judgment is given ; 1 Odgers. Corn. Law 990. For a trial be fore the Court of the Lord High Steward when the Lords ars not in session, see that title. For the last trial of a peer (for bigamy) see L. R. 1901, A. C. 446.
The House of Lords forms no part of the Supreme Court of Judicature; it has no original jurisdiction in ordinary civil actions.
An appeal lies to it against any judgment or order of the Court of Appeal. When sitting to hear such appeals, it is usually composed of the following: The Lord Chancellor; the ex-Lord Chancellor, if any, and the six Lords of Appeal in Ordinary. Such peers as have held high judicial office (e. g., the office of Lord Chancellor, of a salaried judge of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, or of the Supreme Court of England or Ireland, or of the Scotch Court of Session) are also entitled to sit. At least three members of the Court must be Present. Lay peers have a right to vote, but since 1883 no lay peer has attempted to exercise it ; his vote would be ignored.