Editing Impeachment (section)

==Etymology and history==
The word "impeachment" likely derives from [[Old French]] {{lang|fro|empeechier}} from [[Latin]] word {{lang|la|impedīre}} expressing the idea of catching or ensnaring by the 'foot' ({{lang|la|pes, pedis}}), and has analogues in the modern [[French Language|French]] verb {{lang|fr|empêcher}} (to prevent) and the modern [[English Language|English]] ''impede''. Medieval popular etymology also associated it (wrongly) with derivations from the Latin {{lang|la|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 [[Kingmaker]]s.<ref name="Obeng 1996">{{Cite book|last=Obeng|first=J.Pashington|date= 1996|title=Asante Catholicism; Religious and Cultural Reproduction among the Akan of Ghana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zh9jIVu2CyEC&pg=PA31-32|language=en|volume=1|publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-10631-4}}</ref> 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 Also withdrawn from him were the [[Golden Stool]] (a throne functionally equivalent to crowns), swords, and other [[regalia]].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.<ref name="Obeng 1996"/>

In [[Korea]], the [[Goryeo]] dynasty installed Sahundae (司憲臺) in 983 AD, which oversaw the impeachment of officials.<ref>{{cite web |last1=송 |first1=춘영(대구교육대학, 한국사) |title=사헌대 (司憲臺) |url=https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0026102 |website=한국민족문화대백과사전 [Encyclopedia of Korean Culture] |publisher=Academy of Korean Studies |language=ko}}</ref>