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Impeachment is a process of charging a public official with wrongdoing, which can lead to their removal from office. The process varies by country and official, but generally involves a lower house drafting articles of impeachment, which are then voted on by the upper house. Once impeached, officials can still be held accountable for their actions in court. Articles of impeachment detail the crimes the official is accused of, and can be introduced as a form of protest or comment.
Articles of impeachment are formal charges of wrongdoing against a public official. Many nations allow their legislatures to impeach people such as heads of state, and minor officials can also be impeached through legislative action. The Articles of Impeachment represent a series of charges and further action must be taken after they are drafted for a trial to take place. Impeachment of elected officials is relatively rare in most modern governments.
The process for impeaching public officials varies by country and by official. As a general rule, lawmakers in a lower house draft articles of impeachment and then present them to the floor for a vote. If a majority vote is achieved, articles of impeachment are sent to a higher chamber. The upper house holds a trial and votes on whether or not the elected official should be impeached. In order for the official to be removed from office, a majority vote must be obtained, commonly in the form of a two-thirds majority.
Once impeached, a public official can still be held accountable for his or her actions. For example, if the legislature votes to impeach a prime minister because he committed murder, the prime minister may also be tried in court for the crime of murder and may also be subject to civil charges. Impeachment is purely a mechanism to remove elected officials from office.
The articles of impeachment clearly spell out all the crimes the official is accused of and provide a factual basis for the allegations. While only one article can be introduced, commonly there are several, and in some impeachment cases there have been numerous articles of impeachment. When the upper house votes on impeachment, each item is voted on separately; public officials may be convicted of some charges but not others.
Sometimes, people introduce articles of impeachment as a protest or comment. In this case, an official is well aware that she probably can’t attract enough votes to send the articles of impeachment to a higher house, but they are brought to the floor anyway. This provides an opportunity for officials to make grievances and warn members of the public of wrongdoing by elected officials. Such actions are usually reported in the media and sometimes attract extensive coverage, especially if the legislator introducing the articles is media savvy.
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