Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act 1962 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 5 · Offences and Penalties
31. Offences
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No person shall —
wilfully fail or refuse to obey any rule or order of Parliament or a committee, or any order of the Speaker duly made under the Standing Orders or this Act;
Parliament
“Parliament” includes a committee and, where the context so admits, the place or places appointed under Article 64(2) of the Constitution for holding sessions of Parliament;
fail without just cause to comply with any summons issued in terms of section 13 or 25;
assault, hinder, obstruct or insult the Speaker or any Member coming to or going from Parliament on account of his conduct in Parliament or of anything done or said by him in Parliament;
Speaker
“Speaker” means the Speaker and, in his absence, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and includes any other Member when such other Member is presiding at a sitting of Parliament or a committee of the whole Parliament;
endeavour to compel any Member by force, insult or menace to declare himself in favour of or against any proposition or matter pending or expected to be brought before Parliament;
Member
“Member” means a Member of Parliament and shall, where the context so admits, include the Speaker;
assault, threaten, insult, interfere with, obstruct or resist any officer of Parliament while in the execution of his duty;
officer of Parliament
“officer of Parliament” means the Clerk or any Assistant Clerk of Parliament, the Serjeant‑at‑Arms and such other officers or persons as may be appointed to the staff of Parliament, and includes any person employed temporarily in Parliament and any police officer acting under the orders of the Speaker, the Clerk or the Serjeant‑at‑Arms;
threaten or send a threatening letter to the Speaker or a Member or challenge him to a fight on account of his conduct in Parliament or of anything done or said by him in Parliament;
publish any statement, whether in writing or otherwise, which falsely or scandalously defames, or which reflects on the character of, the Speaker or any Member touching on his conduct in Parliament or anything done or said by him in Parliament;
publish wilfully any false or perverted report or any writing containing a gross or scandalous misrepresentation of any debate or proceedings of Parliament, or of any speech of a Member in Parliament;
publish any report of any debate or proceedings of a committee or of any evidence given or any document presented to the committee or extracts from such documents, before the committee has presented its report to Parliament;
committee
“committee” means a committee of the whole Parliament, or any sessional, select, or other committee of Parliament;
publish any report or statement purporting to be a report of any debate or proceedings of Parliament in any case where the proceedings have been conducted after exclusion by order of Parliament of strangers or officers of Parliament or where such publication has been expressly prohibited by order of Parliament;
publish any statement, whether in writing or otherwise, which falsely or scandalously defames the proceedings or the character of Parliament;
create or join in any disturbance in Parliament or in the precincts or vicinity thereof while Parliament or a committee is sitting;
refuse to be examined before or to answer any lawful or relevant question put by or to produce any paper, book, record or document in his possession or under his control required by Parliament or any committee unless the refusal is based on privilege or is excused;
prevaricate or otherwise misconduct himself as a witness before Parliament or a committee;
present to Parliament or a committee any false, untrue, fabricated or falsified document with intent to deceive Parliament or a committee;
tamper with, deter, threaten, beguile or in any way unduly influence any witness in regard to his evidence before Parliament or a committee;
whether or not he has been sworn or has made an affirmation, wilfully make a false answer to any question material to the subject of inquiry put during examination before Parliament or a committee; or
when Parliament is sitting and meeting under continuity arrangements made under Article 64A of the Constitution, knowingly or rashly do any act that interferes or is likely to interfere with the means by which Members located at different places contemporaneously communicate with one another.