
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 6, 1990                   TAG: 9006060004
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: LONDON                                LENGTH: Medium

BRITISH LORDS REJECT NAZI-HUNT BILL

After a long and emotional debate that raised the ghosts of history and the shadow of anti-Semitism in Britain, the House of Lords early Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a bill to prosecute alleged Nazi war criminals living here.

The defeat by a 207-to-74 vote, a stunning reversal of a House of Commons vote earlier this year approving the bill, marked the first time the Lords had defeated a government-supported bill since a 1949 parliamentary act limited the upper chamber's powers.

The vote set off a new debate over the legitimate power of the Lords, whose members either inherit their seats or are appointed by the queen on the government's recommendation, to thwart legislative initiatives approved by the lower, elected Commons.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government now must decide whether to drop the bill or submit it again to Parliament at its next session. If the House of Commons passes the act a second time, it would become law even if rejected again by the Lords, but the action would be unprecedented and, some observers contended, potentially damaging to the Lords.

Many in Britain's small but influential Jewish community were reluctant to see the issue raised, fearing it might trigger anti-Semitism. But community leaders, including retired chief rabbi Lord Immanuel Jakobovits, supported the measure and lobbied the government. A government bill breezed through the Commons in March, 273 to 60.

But the bill ran into strong opposition from several distinguished jurists in the House of Lords, including Lord Shawcross, Britain's chief prosecutor at the Nuremburg war crime trials; Lord Hailsham, a former lord chancellor; and Lord Donaldson, who is master of the rolls. It was also opposed by the archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie.

by CNB