rdinates. A minister has to be constantly asking himself, not
merely whether his proceedings and the proceedings of those for whom
he is responsible are legally or technically defensible, but what kind
of answer he can give if questioned about them in the House, and how
that answer will be received."[187] Any member is privileged to bring
forward a motion censuring the Government or any member or department
thereof, and a motion of this sort, when emanating from the leader of
the Opposition, constitutes a vote of confidence upon whose result may
depend the continued tenure of the ministry. By a call upon the
Government or a given department for information, by the constitution
of parliamentary committees, departmental committees, or royal
commissions, and, in particular by taking advantage of the numberless
opportunities afforded by the enactment of appropriation bills, the
House of Commons may further impose upon the executive the most
thoroughgoing responsibility and control. "A strong executive (p. 130)
government, tempered and controlled by constant, vigilant, and
representative criticism," is the ideal at which the parliamentary
institutions of Great Britain are aimed.[188]

[Footnote 186: See p. 314.]

[Footnote 187: Parliament, 113-114.]

[Footnote 188: Ilbert, Parliament, 119. On the
Commons' control of the Government see Lowell,
Government of England, I., Chap. 17; Moran, English
Government, Chap. 8; Low, The Governance of
England, Chap. 5; Todd, Parliamentary Government,
II., 164-185.]

*136. Judicial Powers: Impeachment and Attainder.*--The functions of a
judicial character which, in the capacity of the High Court of
Parliament, the two chambers fulfill are of secondary importance and
do not call for extended discussion. So far as the law of the subject
goes, they comprise (1) the powers possessed by each of the houses to
deal with the constitution and conduct of its own membership; (2) the
power of the Lords to try their own members when charged with treason
or felony; (3) the jurisdiction of the Lords in the capacity of a
final court of appeal for the United Kingdom; (4) the power of the two
houses, acting jointly, to carry through impeachments of public
officers and to enact bills of attainder; and (5) the effecting of the
removal of certain kinds