APPENDIX 4(6)
Peerage Act 1963 (c 48)
An Act to authorise the disclaimer for life
of certain hereditary peerages; to include among the peers qualified
to sit in the House of Lords all peers in the peerage of Scotland
and peeresses in their own right in the peerages of England, Scotland,
Great Britain and the United Kingdom; to remove certain disqualifications
of peers in the peerage of Ireland in relation to the House of
Commons and elections thereto; and for purposes connected with
the matters aforesaid.[31 July 1963]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty,
by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and
by the authority of the same, as follows:
DISCLAIMER OF
PEERAGE
Disclaimer of certain hereditary peerages
1.—(1) Subject to the provisions of
this section, any person who, after the commencement of this Act,
succeeds to a peerage in the peerage of England, Scotland, Great
Britain or the United Kingdom may, by an instrument of disclaimer
delivered to the Lord Chancellor within the period prescribed
by this Act, disclaim that peerage for his life.
(2) Any instrument of disclaimer to be delivered
under this section in respect of a peerage shall be delivered
within the period of twelve months beginning with the day on which
the person disclaiming succeeds to that peerage or, if he is under
the age of twenty-one when he so succeeds, the period of twelve
months beginning with the day on which he attains that age; and
no such instrument shall be delivered in respect of a peerage
by a person who has applied for a writ of summons to attend the
House of Lords in right of that peerage.
(3) The foregoing provisions of this section
shall apply to a person who has succeeded to a peerage before
the commencement of this Act as they apply to a person who succeeds
to a peerage after the commencement of this Act, but subject to
the following modifications:
(a) the period within which an instrument
of disclaimer may be delivered by such a person shall be twelve
months beginning with the commencement of this Act or, if he is
then under twenty-one years of age, twelve months beginning with
the day on which he attains that age; and
(b) an instrument of disclaimer may be delivered
by such a person notwithstanding that he has applied before the
commencement of this Act for a writ of summons to attend the House
of Lords.
(4) In reckoning any period prescribed by
this section for the delivery of an instrument of disclaimer by
any person no account shall be taken of any time during which
that person is shown to the satisfaction of the Lord Chancellor
to have been subject to any infirmity of body or mind rendering
him incapable of exercising or determining whether to exercise
his rights under this section.
(5) The provisions of Schedule 1 to this
Act shall have effect with respect to the form of instruments
of disclaimer under this section, and the delivery, certification
and registration of such instruments.
Disclaimer by members of the House of
Commons and parliamentary candidates
2.—(1) Where a person who succeeds
to a peerage to which section 1 of this Act applies is a member
of the House of Commons when he so succeeds, any instrument of
disclaimer to be delivered by him under that section in respect
of that peerage shall be delivered within the period of one month
beginning with the date of his succession, and not later; and
until the expiration of that period he shall not, by virtue of
that peerage, be disqualified for membership of the House of Commons
whether or not he has delivered such an instrument:
Provided that—
(a) a person who is exempt from disqualification
for membership of the House of Commons by virtue only of this
subsection shall not sit or vote in that House while so exempt;
and
(b) if any such person applies for a writ of
summons to attend the House of Lords in right of the peerage in
question, this subsection shall cease to apply to him.
(2) Where a person who succeeds to such
a peerage as aforesaid has been or is nominated as a candidate
at a parliamentary election held in pursuance of a writ issued
before his succession, he shall not (unless he applies for such
a writ of summons as aforesaid) be disqualified by virtue of that
peerage for election to the House of Commons at that election,
and if he is so elected subsection (1) of this section shall apply
to him as if he had succeeded to the peerage immediately after
the declaration of the result of the election.
(3) Where an instrument of disclaimer is
delivered under this Act by a person to whom this section applies,
a copy of that instrument shall be delivered to the Speaker of
the House of Commons.
(4) In reckoning any period prescribed by
this section in relation to any person no account shall be taken—
(a) of any time during which proceedings
are pending on any parliamentary election petition in which the
right of that person to be elected or returned to the House of
Commons is in issue;
(b) of any time during which that person
is shown to the satisfaction of the Speaker of the House of Commons
to have been subject to any such infirmity as is mentioned in
subsection (4) of section 1 of this Act; or
(c) of any time during which Parliament is
prorogued or both Houses of Parliament are adjourned for more
than four days;
and if Parliament is dissolved during that period
the foregoing provisions of this section shall cease to apply
to that person in respect of the peerage in question.
Effects of disclaimer
3.—(1) The disclaimer of a peerage
by any person under this Act shall be irrevocable and shall operate,
from the date on which the instrument of disclaimer is delivered,—
(a) to divest that person (and, if he is
married, his wife) of all right or interest to or in the peerage,
and all titles, rights, offices, privileges and precedence attaching
thereto; and
(b) to relieve him of all obligations and
disabilities (including any disqualificiation in respect of membership
of the House of Commons and elections to that House) arising therefrom,
but shall not accelerate the succession to that peerage
nor effect its devolution on his death.
(2) Where a peerage is disclaimed under
this Act, no other hereditary peerage shall be conferred upon
the person by whom it is disclaimed, and no writ in acceleration
shall be issued in respect of that peerage to the person entitled
thereto on his death.
(3) The disclaimer of a peerage under this
Act shall not affect any right, interest or power (whether arising
before or after the disclaimer) of the person by whom the peerage
is disclaimed, or of any other person, to, in or over any estates
or other property limited or settled to devolve with that peerage.
(4) The reference in the foregoing subsection
to estates or other property limited or settled to devolve with
a peerage shall, for the purposes of the application of this Act
to Scotland, be construed as including a reference to estates
or other land devolving as aforesaid under an entail or special
destination, or the beneficial interest in which so devolves under
a trust.
PARLIAMENTARY QUALIFICATIONS
OF SCOTTISH
PEERS, IRISH
PEERS AND
PEERESSES IN
OWN RIGHT
Scottish peerages
4. The holder of a peerage in the peerage
of Scotland shall have the same right to receive writs of summons
to attend the House of Lords, and to sit and vote in that House,
as the holder of a peerage in the peerage of the United Kingdon;
and the enactments relating to the election of Scottish representative
peers shall cease to have effect.
Irish peerages
5. The holder of a peerage in the peerage
of Ireland shall not by virtue of that peerage be disqualified—
(a) for being or being elected as a member
of the House of Commons for any constitutency in the United Kingdom;
or
(b) for voting at elections for that House
whether or not he is a member of that House.
Peeresses in own right
6. A woman who is the holder of a hereditary
peerage in the peerage of England, Scotland, Great Britain or
the United Kingdom shall (whatever the terms of the letters patent
or other instrument, if any, creating that peerage) have the same
right to receive writs of summons to attend the House of Lords,
and to sit and vote in that House, and shall be subject to the
same disqualifications in respect of membership of the House of
Commons and elections to that House, as a man holding that peerage.
SUPPLEMENTAL
Short title, and repeals
7.—(1) This Act may be cited
as the Peerage Act 1963.
(2) The enactments described in Schedule
2 to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent mentioned in column
3 of that Schedule.
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