House of Commons (Clergy Disqualification) Act 1801
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1801 c. 63 |
| Year | 1801 |
(41 Geo. 3) C A P. LXIII.
[23d June 1801]
'WHEREAS it is expedient to remove Doubts which have arisen respecting the Eligibility of Persons in Holy Orders to sit in the House of Commons, and also to make effectual Provision for excluding them from sitting therein;' be it therefore declared and enacted by the King's most ExcellentMajesty, 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, That no Person having been ordained to the Office of Priest or Deacon, or being a Minister of the Church ofScotland , is or shall be capable of being elected to serve in Parliament as a Member of the House of Commons.
II The Election of such Person shall be void; and if any Person after his Election shall be ordained a Priest, &c. he shall vacate his Seat.
II. And be it further declared and enacted, That if any Person, having been ordained to the Office of Priest or Deacon, or being a Minister of the Church ofScotland , shall hereafter be elected to serve in Parliament as aforesaid, such Election and Return shall be void; and that if any Person, being elected to serve in Parliament as a Member of the House of Commons, shall, after his Election, be ordained to the Office of Priest or Deacon, or become a Minister of the Church of Scotland , then and in such Case the Seat of such Person shall immediately become void; and if any such Person shall, in any of the aforesaid Cases, presume to sit or vote as a Member of the House of Commons, he shall forfeit the Sum of five hundred Pounds for every Day in which he shall sit or vote in the said House, to any Person or Persons who shall sue for the same in any of his Majesty's Courts at Westminster ; and the Money so forfeited shall be recovered by the Personor Persons so suing, with full Costs of Suit, in any of the said Courts, by any Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information, in which no Essoign, Privilege, Protection, or Wager of Law, or more than one Imparlance, shall be allowed; and every Person against whom any such Penalty or Forfeiture shall be recovered by virtue of this Act, shall be from...
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