World Notes BRITAIN

Sleepy dogs are not supposed to bite, but last week the unelected House of Lords displayed a few unexpected fangs. The peers voted overwhelmingly to block a war-crimes bill. The legislation, which would have permitted the prosecution of alleged Nazi war criminals living in Britain, had easily won approval in the House of Commons last March.

The peers were divided over whether such trials would constitute justice or revenge. Lord Shawcross, the chief British prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, argued that the bill would be "an indelible blot on every principle of British law and justice." But its supporters deemed enactment morally and legally essential. Citing recent outbreaks of anti-Semitism across Europe, Chief Rabbi Lord Jakobovits warned against sending "a wrong signal to a world seeking reassurance that civilized governments would never again allow such evil to triumph with impunity."

Though the popularly elected Commons does possess the constitutional power to prevail eventually, the obstreperous naysaying of the upper house served as a reminder that their Lordships still are not quite toothless.