PRIVILEGE. 416 PRIVY COUNCIL. that they might all be comprehended under the following general heads : protection by the Gov- ernment, the enjoyment of life and liberty, the right to acquire and possess property of every kind, the right to pursue and obtain happiness and safety, the right to pass from one State to another for the purpose of trade, agriculture, professional pursuits, or otherwise, the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the right to main- tain actions in the courts, to acquire and hold property, and the right of exemption from higher taxes than are paid by citizens of other States (Carfield v. Coryell, 4 Wash. c.c. 371). See also Cooley, Constitiitional Law. pp. 20G-208. PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION. A term applied to two distinct classes of statements. First, it denotes comnumications between parties to a confidential relation, which the law does not force the recipient to disclose as a wit- ness. Examples of this class are statements made by a client to his lawyer, by a patient to his pliysician. those between husband and wife, those between a party and a witness in prepara- tion of a case for trial, and State secrets. They are frequently called confidential cunniiunica- tions. The extent to which they are |)rivileged is generally regulated by statute in our States. Second, the term is also applied to statements which are defamatory, but which do not give to the injured party a right of action. State- ments of this sort are of two kinds: absolutely privileged and conditionally privileged. Mem- bers of Parliament, of Congress, and of our State legislatures are not to be questioned in any other place than their respective Houses for any speech or debate made therein. (See United States Constitution. Art. 1, Sec. 6). Judges also enjoy an absolute privilege from civil action for any- thing said or written by them as judges. This rule is not made for the protection or benefit of a malicious or abusive judge, but for the benefit of the public, whose interest it is that judicial officers should be at liberty to exercise their functions with independence and without fear of consequences. Similar considerations of pub- lic policy have led the English courts to accord the same absolute privilege to the pleadings of litigant parties, to the remarks of counsel, and the statements of witnesses, in the course of judicial proceedings. In this coiuitry, however, the courts have generally held the priilege of such persons to be conditional and not absolute. That is, they are not liable in a civil action imless their defamatory statements are not per- tinent or material to the case at issue, and are made in bad faith and for a malicious pur- pose. A conditionally privileged communication is a defamatory statement made by a person in the discharge of some public or private duty, whether legal or moral : or in the conduct oif his ovm affairs in a matter where his interests are concerned. The publication of legislative and judicial proceedings by newspapers belongs to this class. So do statements made by a lawyer to a client about the solvency of a third person with whom the client is about to eugage in I)usiness transactions. Conmiunications by a parent to a daughter of full age about the reputation of a suitor are also in this category, as are the warnings by a master to his servants about the character of a fellow-servant, or the statements of an employer about those who have been in his service. In all of these, and in similar cases, the plaintiiT must show that the defendant uttered the defamation in bad faith and for a malicious purpose, or he will fail in his action. See Defamation; Libel; Slandei:. Consult Hageman, Primletjed Communkutions (Sonierville, N. J., 1889) ; also authorities noted under Slander; Libel. PRIVILEGED DEBTS. In Scotch law, those debts which must be paid first out of bank- rupt's, insolvent's, and decedent's estates, cor- responding to the class of debts called preferred claims or delits in the United States. PRIVILEGED DEED. In the law of Scot- land, a liolograph deed, which is exemijted from the statute requiring deeds to be signed before witnes.ses. PRIVY COUNCIL. In England, the assem- bly appointed by the sovereign to give advice on matters of state. In Anglo-Saxon times the kings had been advised by the Witenagemot, and in Xorman times this became the Great Council. Naturally, the kings had more intimate coun- selors, and they separated in time from the larger body to form the Privy Council. There are traces of such a body as early as the minority of Henry III., but the institution did not become definitely fixed until the minority of Richard II. During the reign of Henry V. the name Privy Council first appears, and in the time of Henry VI. this became the official desig- nation. The period of the greatest power of the Privy Council was during the infancy of Henry VI. It came into frequent collision with Parliament, which was jealous of its power. Its s|)herc of action was very wide. As a deliberative body it gave advice to the Crown on political ques- tions. It exercised legislative, judicial, and executive functions. Originally its judicial pow- ers were very great. It frequently assumed cognizance of questions of private right; but in 1040 it was enacted that neither King nor Council should have any jurisdiction in matters regard- ing the estates and lil)ertios of the subject, which should be tried in the ordinary tribunals of the land. The Star Chamber ( q.v. ) , as it was constituted under Henry VII., was prac- tically identical with the Council, except that the two Chief .Justices were included among its mem- bers. After the Restoration the executive and con- sultative powers of the Coimcil liegan to decline. Vain attempts were made by Clarendon and later by Sir William Temple to give it new vigor. Since the reign of William III. the Cabinet has gradually appropriated all of the political functions of the larger body of which it is legally a part. The Privy Council has ceased to advise the Crown regarding the gov- ernment of the realm. Since 1870 a privy cotincilor may be either a native or a naturalized subject of Great Britain. The honor is conferred by the sovereign's nomi- nation, without any patent or grant, and is com- pleted by taking the oath of office. Among the large number of members of the Council are now included the princes of the royal family; the tw-o archl)ishops ; the Bishop of London; the judges of the House of Lords, the Judicial Com- mittee, and the Court of Appeal; and all the Cabinet Ministers. The office of pri-y coiuicilor'
