Impeachment

Impeachment, an exceptional form of process whereby the House of Commons may obtain redress for any unlawful act, and especially for high crimes and misdemeanours committed by peers and ministers of the crown. When the House has resolved on an impeachment certain of its members are deputed to go to the bar of the House of Lords, and there to present the charges they are prepared to support. At the trial the Lords as a body act as judges, the managers appointed by the Commons conduct the prosecution, and the accused may be defended by counsel. For a picturesque description of these proceedings, see Macaulay's Essay on Warren Hastings. A pardon by the crown may not be pleaded in bar of an impeachment; but after conviction and sentence the crown may pardon the offender. The last instance of an impeachment is that of Lord Melville in 1805. Impeachment is a form of trial, and is to be distinguished from proceedings by way of Bill of Attainder or Bill of Pains and Penalties. Parliament deals with such bills in its legislative and not in its judicial capacity. In the United States impeachment is a written charge brought by the House of Representatives to the Senate against a civil officer of the United States; or, in the several states, the accusation of an officer by the legislature to the senate of the state. The most famous trial of impeachment in the United States was that of President Johnson (q.v.), in 1868; and he was acquitted under the rule requiring a two-thirds vote of the members present to secure a conviction, the vote standing 35 for and 19 against conviction.