§ SIR WILFRID LAWSON (Cumberland, Cockermouth)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if it was in pursuance of any Order or Resolution of this House, or by direction of the Treasury, that Mr. Attorney-General appeared before the Court of Queen's Bench in the case stated by justices in the matter of a servant connected with the refreshment department of this House; whether Mr. Attorney-General was directed by the Government to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Queen's Bench in this matter; and what are the precedents for this House submitting itself to the jurisdiction of the Queen's Bench by the appearance of Mr. Attorney-General to defend its privileges before the Courts?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURYIt has been the invariable practice for the Treasury, on the instruction of the Government of the day, to defend the employees of the House in the case of legal proceedings brought against them in the discharge of their duties. In accordance with this practice the Attorney-General was instructed by the Treasury Solicitor to appear before the Court of Queen's Bench in the case referred to. No question of the jurisdiction of the Queen's Bench Division could be raised in the case as the summons was for a personal offence, and no submission to the jurisdiction of the Court was made by the Attorney-General in any way.