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3.1 Section 34 is an absolute exemption. It is not subject to the public interest test in section 2. To the extent that the confines of parliamentary privilege can be precisely determined, information either does or does not fall within it. The exemption applies where it is required to avoid a disclosure which would 'infringe' the privileges of either House of Parliament. Not all information, even that about 'proceedings in Parliament', will infringe the privileges of the House if it is published. Most obviously, this applies to information whose publication Parliament has already approved, whether under section 19 of the FOI Act or in some other way. On the other hand, Parliament also regards as one of its privileges the right to decide for itself what information about its own proceedings is made public.
3.2 Where a request is made for information which may be covered by parliamentary privilege and which is not published by order of either House, under subsection (1) any public authority receiving that request can decide that its publication would infringe parliamentary privilege and refuse to disclose it on those grounds. However, only the House authorities can conclusively certify the exemption under subsection (3). If the exemption is claimed without consulting the House authorities, the Information Commissioner can substitute his own judgement if a decision is challenged. Departments are therefore strongly advised to seek advice from the relevant officials of the House concerned, in order to ensure that privilege is asserted if but only if it should be, and duly certified. For the House of Commons, this is the Speaker of that House. For the House of Lords, it is the Clerk of the Parliaments. Each House asserts privilege over its own material. Departments' own Parliamentary branches or FOI units should have set up mechanisms for consultation with the relevant House authorities.
3.3 Section 34 is not subject to section 63. This means that there is no date at which the exemption ceases to apply. In practice, privileged information is likely to be released when it is more than 30 years old. But it remains a matter for the House authorities.