Impeachment

Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. Impeachment tends to be confined to ministerial officials as the unique nature of their positions may place ministers beyond the reach of the law to prosecute, or their misconduct is not codified into law as an offense except through the unique expectations of their high office. Both "peers and commoners" have been subject to the process, however.

From 1990 to 2020, there have been at least 272 impeachment charges against 132 different heads of state in 63 countries. In Latin America, which includes almost 40% of the world's presidential systems, ten presidents from seven countries were removed from office by their national legislatures via impeachments or declarations of incapacity between 1978 and 2019.

Most democracies (with the notable exception of the United States) involve the courts (often a national constitutional court) in some way. National legislations differ regarding both the consequences and definition of impeachment, but the intent is nearly always to expeditiously vacate the office. Most commonly, an official is considered impeached after the commencement of the charges, and a trial of some kind is required to remove the official from office.

Impeachment is distinct from the motion of no confidence procedure available in some countries whereby a motion of censure can be used to remove a government and its ministers from office. Such a procedure is not applicable in countries with presidential forms of government like the United States. Because impeachment involves a departure from the normal constitutional procedures by which individuals achieve high office (election, ratification, or appointment) and because it generally requires a supermajority, it is usually reserved for those deemed to have committed serious abuses of their office. In the United States, for example, impeachment at the federal level is limited to those who may have committed "Treason, Bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors". Under the United States Constitution, the House of Representatives has the sole power of impeachments while the Senate has the sole power to try impeachments (i.e., to acquit or convict); the validity of an impeachment trial is a political question that is nonjusticiable (i.e., is not reviewable by the courts).

The word "impeachment" likely derives from Old French empeechier from Latin word impedīre expressing the idea of catching or ensnaring by the 'foot' (pes, pedis), and has analogues in the modern French verb empêcher (to prevent) and the modern English impede. Medieval popular etymology also associated it (wrongly) with derivations from the Latin impetere (to attack).

The process was first used by the English "Good Parliament" against William Latimer, 4th Baron Latimer in the second half of the 14th century. Following the English example, the constitutions of Virginia (1776), Massachusetts (1780) and other states thereafter adopted the impeachment mechanism, but they restricted the punishment to removal of the official from office, in contrast to the English Parliament's broad power to punish impeachments.

In West Africa, rulers of the Ashanti Empire who violated any oaths taken during their enstoolment were destooled by Kingmakers. Reasons include punishing citizens arbitrarily or being exposed as corrupt. The process involved Kingmakers forcibly removing the sandals of the guilty party, then bumping his buttocks on the ground three times. Once destooled, a king automatically lost sanctity and honours as he could not exercise royal powers such as being chief administrator, judge, and military commander. Also withdrawn from him were the Golden Stool (a throne functionally equivalent to crowns), swords, and other regalia. While a deposed king no longer held custodianship of the realm, he remained a member of the royal family from which he was elected.

In Korea, the Goryeo dynasty installed Sahundae (司憲臺) in 983 AD, which oversaw the impeachment of officials.