The possibility of “arrest” of members exercising their freedom of speech “has never been a concern for the democratic Parliament and its presiding officers”. This will be part of the grounds for Parliament’s appeal against Tuesday’s court judgment that declared the law allowing the speaker to call in police to deal with disturbances by MPs invalid to the extent that it permits a member to be arrested for conduct protected by the Constitution.“The presiding officers have stood firm in protecting the rights and freedoms of all members in accordance with the Constitution. Of concern‚ however‚ has been the degeneration of debates into ugly and chaotic scenes‚” a Parliament statement on Tuesday night said.The application to have Section 11 of the Powers‚ Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act declared unconstitutional was launched by the Democratic Alliance (DA) after police kicked Economic Freedom Fighters MPs out of the chambers during the State of the Nation Address in February.In its statement‚ Parliament said that Section 11 deals with “persons creating a disturbance” and provides that any such person “may be arrested and removed from the precincts [of Parliament] on the order of the speaker or chairperson [of the National Council of Provinces] by a staff member or a member of the security forces”.“The court concluded that what Section 11 applies to is‚ what the judgment termed‚ ‘robust debate and controversial speech’ and ‘the privilege to free speech’‚” Parliament said.“Parliament’s stance was and is explicitly that this is not what Section 11 provides. The section relates to conduct which goes beyond this and puts in jeopardy Parliament’s very ability to function.”The statement went on to say “that the judgment vindicates Parliament’s authority to determine its internal arrangements and procedures”.“It upholds the right of the presiding officers to maintain order on the basis of Parliament’s rules and to discharge their authority effectively.The DA’s federal chairperson‚ James Selfe‚ celebrated the victory over Section 11 "because it precluded MPs from exercising their constitutional mandate to hold the executive to account”."Parliament will now need to revise this law within 12 months in order to ‘remedy the defect’ and align it with the Constitution‚" he said.Parliament said that the court order “is also expressly subject to confirmation by the Constitutional Court”...