Resumen de Public Office and Public Trust:: Standards of Conduct in Parliament: A Comparative Analysis of Rules of Conduct in Three Parliaments

Paul P.T. Bovend'Eert

• Many parliaments in the Western world presently feel the need to establish standards of conduct for their members to enhance the public’s trust in and authority of parliament. This article investigates, on the basis of three highly different but more or less representative practical examples of houses of parliaments, the subject of standards of conduct for members of parliament (MPs). From a constitutional law perspective, a comparative analysis is given of the content and scope of standards of conduct for MPs and the way these standards are enforced. The following topics are discussed: the power of a house of parliament to regulate standards of conduct; the legal status of MPs concerning standards of conduct; the free representational mandate of MPs in the context of conflicts of interest; rules of conduct advancing trust in parliament and enforcement mechanisms in parliament.