Автор работы: Пользователь скрыл имя, 27 Сентября 2013 в 05:55, шпаргалка
London
The capital city of England and the United Kingdom lies on the River Thames, which winds through the city. Its many bridges are a famous sight. The oldest is London Bridge, originally made of wood but rebuilt in stone in 1217. The most distinctive is Tower Bridge, which was designated to blend in with the nearby Tower of London.
But those laws, containing the norms of the constitution nature don’t have special status and can be replaced by the same procedure as the common Acts.
The Bill of Rights is valid (remains in force) at present.
The Constitution of the GB is made up of statutes, judicial precedents, Constitutional Conventions and doctrines.
The British Constitution is flexible.
Its flexibility makes it responsive to political and social changes in present-day life.
Unwritten constitution can be simply changed since Parliament as the supreme legislative body can change any law at any time by simple Act and without any special procedure.
The statement that the British Constitution is not written doesn’t mean that the British citizens possess no important constitutional documents; it merely means that the constitution is not embodied in any single document, or series of documents, containing essential constitutional laws.
Thus the British citizens have many enactments which either have been or still are, of great importance.
As a case in point we should mention: Magna Carta (1215), The Bill of Rights (1689), the Act of Settlement (1700) and the Parliament Acts (of 1911 and 1949).
The constitutional Monarch
In 1952 when Princess Elizabeth was 25 years old, she came to the throne after the death of her father King George VI. Next year she was crowned and according to the Royal Titles Act of 1953 being given the title Her Most Excellent Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith).
What is Constitutional Monarch? Why it is become usual among countries, which were the part of British Empire to admit the Queen as the Head of British Commonwealth, in which they continue to consist at their own choice, although they declared themselves as independent republic? Does the Queen really rule? What is her role in political life?
The Queen seems to participate directly in everything that concerns handling the United Kingdoms. She is the one of three parts of which the Parliament consists as the Legislative body: the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Monarch. No Parliament bill becomes effective without her Royal Assent. Prime-ministers of United Kingdoms who have failed at the general elections or lost the majority in the House of Commons give the petition about dismissal to the hand of Her Majesty. And then She offers to the leader of the won party to make his own government or take consultations about whom to charge it.
Ambassadors are accredited in London not at any governmental department but at her court-yard in Saint-James (her former royal palace), and all honours are awarded by the Prime-Minister in Her name. All criminal prosecutions on indictment are brought in the name of the Crown.
As Commander-in-Chief of the armed services she appoints officers, and as Supreme Governor of the established Church of England she makes appointments to its bishoprics and some other senior offices. Nominally she even appoints Universities professors to the appropriate posts. According the law the Monarch is the Head of executive and judiciary power and Commander-in-Chief of the armed services.
The Monarch does not have powers, he has duties. For making these duties the Monarch should be the eternal symbol in United Kingdoms, binding past, present and future for people who democratically decide by elections who should posses real authority, rejecting one Prime-Minister with his party and voting for new and his party.
We should not forget that in the House of Commons any Prime-Minister deals with the Leader of opposition of Her Majesty. The monarch in the U.K is above politics. Politics come and leave, but hereditary Monarch won’t leave ever. Even death does not make vacuum with the preservation of the law of succession. The King is dead - The King long live!”
GB Government
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, which means that king’s powers are limited by the constitution. The power of crown is limited by the parliament, but this power is inherited, not elected. There is one known legend in GB telling that “Monarchy is inoffensive”, that king or queen reigns but doesn’t rule: The king power acts only under the parliament and the cabinet.
The Prime Minister is a leader of Majority Party in the House of Commons. He forms the government and the cabinet of ministers whose powers last 5 years till the next elections. The Prime Minister’s residency is at Downing Street 10. The Parliament controls the Cabinet.
The Cabinet consists of the main departmental ministers such as the Lord Chancellor, the Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Defense Secretary, Lord Privy Seal and so on. Besides the members of the cabinet there are non-departmental ministers who are the government members, but not of the cabinet and are second by prestige among their colleagues. The cabinet plays main role in the state and political life of the country. Exactly the cabinet, not the parliament, possess the real power.
The ruling party tries to have an absolute majority in the parliament. Otherwise so called by-election may be a help under the proposal of the Prime Minister.
A typical feature of the English political formation is a “two party” system. The development of two parties was the result of the unity of industrial bourgeoisie (Whigs) and landlord aristocracy (Tories). The parliament reform of 1832 held under the pressure of masses had led to significant changes. The class face of the parties had been changed and each other for hundred years. Then in 1923 the Labor party had taken the place of the Liberals who had passed the crisis and became the opposition of the Conservative party.
At the parliamentary election held in 1997 the Labor party defeated conservatives and formed the government aimed to change radically the constitution. This is relevant to the Parliament of the GB – their intentions are to turn the upper chambers (The House of Lords) into elective legislative body with “national” lords to be elected by lot as it is for juries.
Законодательство
Following Common Law and Equity, Legislation is the third source of British law. Nowadays Legislation is the prime force of legal system reform and is also becoming the main source of British Law due to its tendency and codification. Moreover, almost all norms concerning the structure and jurisdiction of modern courts and its procedures are statute. Probably, it will be right to say that Law includes the huge number of different details while most principles of British Law come from Common Law and Equity.
Legislation as the Law differs from Common Law and Equity in some ways. Common Law and Equity limited by precedents and can only create new precedents changing and broadening already existing ones, but Legislation can exercise new principles of law without any referring to existing principles and even can repeal them which can’t be done by either Common Law or Equity. It is main advantages of legislation as prime force of legal system reform.
And finally, Legislation is the source of Law itself in contrast to other historical sources of Law, Common Law and Equity, which can’t be confirmed only by referring to other judicial documents, especially precedents. That’s why it is very important to interpret the statutes right, because the contain of the law depends on the interpretation of words of this law.
Правозаступники
Distinction of English legal system is the dividing of legal profession into two branches – solicitors and barristers, which isn’t known outside the Great Britain and countries of the Commonwealth. In other countries professionals are called as lawyers, but this term isn’t usually used in England. The dividing of legal professions started in 1340 when professional Bar began developing.
Inns of Court protected the separation of barristers from solicitors. Barristers must have been members of Inns of Court which refused to attorneys and solicitor to be there as well after the XVI century.
So the dividing of legal profession has historic backgrounds and depends on the functions of barristers and solicitors. Generally barristers conduct cases in courts though most time they spend on preparing pleadings, divorce writs, difficult calculations and conclusion on special issues such as tax law and law of stock companies.
Solicitors usually do such preparations as collection of evidences, examinations of witnesses, giving of warrants and they also participate in preparatory stage of trial. Solicitors have limited rights to public performance in court. They take part in hearing the case in county courts, magistrates’ courts, some sessions of Crown Court and tribunals, and cases of bankrupts which are heard in the High Court of Justice.
Barristers appear in courts (except Magistrates’ courts) in wigs and gowns, but solicitors never wear wigs and can appear in gowns only in some courts such as county courts. So clients come to solicitors for pleading the case, but barristers can plead the case only through the solicitor and not by client himself.
Legal Profession (Адвокатура в Англии)
The function of representatives of parties in a civil litigation, defense in criminal cases and doing other judicial services are exercised by lawyer who are divided long since in England into 2 categories: barristers and solicitors.
Barristers are lawyers who has a prerogative right to conduct cases in courts (as solicitors they also can conduct cases in interior courts). In order to become a barrister, in is necessary to practice with an experience barrister and enter into articles of clerkship, and after passing respective exams are admitted to the members of one of 4 Inns of Court – organizations of the Bar.”
Barristers’ activity is connected with many traditional competence and restrictions. In particular they must treat with clients only through the solicitors, wear robs and wigs, etc. The most experienced and qualified barristers are appointed by the Queen on advice of the Lord Chancellor and it gives then additional competence and prerogatives. The Bar is headed by the Senate and the Bar Council (General Council of the Bar).
Solicitors are much more numerous groups of lawyers. They consult their clients often on constant basis, prepare the civil and criminal cases for hearing on their clients’ behalf, and conduct the cases in the name of prosecution or defense and also as representatives of parties in interior courts. The Solicitor Corporation is headed by the Law Society, managed by elected council. Candidates to solicitors must have a law degree or enter into articles of clerkship in the law society; they pass special exams and practice for 2 years. No one can be admitted to the solicitor’s work without getting the certificate of the law society first, which testifies that the person fulfills all the requirements of personal characteristics to be the solicitor of the Supreme Court. The law society testifies the solicitors’ list and in order to practice as a solicitor a person must be registered in this list and have the certificate for practice in appropriate (exact) time.
The Supreme Court and the High Courts of Justice
The Supreme Court of England and Wales, presided over by the Lord Chancellor includes 3 independent judicial institutions (courts): the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice and the Crown Court.
The Court of Appeal consists of Criminal and Civil divisions, and the panel of three or more judges hears appeals against the decisions (judgments) of other courts. There are Lord Chancellor, former (ex) Lords Chancellors, Lord Chief Justice (the chairman of the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court) and other officers of the High Court and also up to 18 Lords Justices of Appeal in it. The High Court of Justice has 3 divisions: the Queens Bench Division, the Chancery Division and the Family Division. It includes the Lord Chancellor and other High Court officers and also 80 ordinary judges. (далее не редактировалось)
Cases in divisions of the High Court of Justice are tried by judges on their own, appeals – by the panel (коллегия) of 2 or 3 judges. In Queen’s Bench Division cases may be heard by jury in particular situations.
The Crown Court, organized in 1971, investigates cases of offenders and appeals against decisions of magistrate’s courts verdicts with participation of jury. Considered a single court, the Crown Court regularly conducts sessions in districts with centers in largest cities of England and Wales. Jury sessions are usually run under the head of justice and 12 juries.
According to the Criminal Justice Law (1967) instead of jury concurrent for finding somebody guilty the majority of voices (10 from 11-12) is acceptable. Not guilty verdicts taken by jury are not subject to appeal. Justices from High Court of Justice, district justices and recorders (lawyers who play as justices in combining job) act as justices in Crown Court. Justices and recorders share investigation of appeal claims with 2-4 justices of peace. All described courts refer to the category of High Courts of Justice.
The House of Lords. (3)
The parliament of GB consists of 2 houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The members of the upper house – the House of Lords are not elected by general election. The house of Lords consists of bishops of the church of England, representatives of inheritable aristocracy, who’ve been in the parliament since it had been created, then law-lords, who became a part of the parliament in the end of last century plus 1 more category, which appeared in 1958 and well-known as life peers.
Life lords are, mainly, former members of the House of Commons or other notables who are famous for being members of trade-union either scientist or businessmen.
It is considered to be about 1200 lords in the country but not all of them attend the sittings of their house. Average attendance is about 320 members. Few of them devote all the time to politics. Some belong to the political parties and reflect their point of view, but many don’t have definite politics.
During session the house of lords meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2:30 p.m. and Wednesday sittings at 3 p.m. Monday and Friday sittings are hold only in particular cases, when it’s urgent.
The majority of ministers are the members of the House of Commons including prime-minister, there are also about 15 office-holders. Lord Chancellor and lord privy seal are the main ministers. There are also some other peers – clerks of parliament who go in for government.
Being a supreme appellate body HoL together with legislation performs judicial functions. Under the jurisdiction of Lord Chancellor law lords take decisions in last instance concerning law and verdicts of the subordinate courts on the whole territory of GB.
The House of Commons (4)
The House of Commons is a representative assembly, members are elected (there are 659 seats in the HoC) to represent local constituencies. There are 11 political parties in parliament of the country: the biggest one is the labor party with 119 seats (63,6 % - overwhelming majority) which forms the Government. On occasions when no party succeeds in winning an overall majority of seats a coalition government may be formed.
All the ministers must be members of one of the Houses and nowadays main positions are held by the members of the HoC. Conservative party with the next largest number of seats is officially recognized as “the official opposition” (165 seats – 25%) HoC seats in a quite small room with only 437 seatings.
Конституция США (1)
For the purpose of independence fortification and forming strong central government with enough powers to solve the nationwide importance challenges, it was decided to summon the Constitutional Convention under the presidentship of George Washington in May 1787 in the Philadelphia to generate plan of co-ordinate action of Associates of former British colonies declared themselves independent states. The delegations from 12 of 13 states (Rhode Island - the smallest state – refused to participate) came to the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed. In the process of heady discussion of different conceptual approaches to the central government form the delegates of Convention drew up a relatively brief but very deep meaning document called “The Constitution of the USA”.
This Constitution set up a federal system with a strong central government. A federal system means one in which power is shared between a central authority and its constituent parts with some rights reserved to each. A Constitution provided the elections of a national leader, or President. It provided that federal laws would be made only by a Congress consisting of representatives elected by the people. The Constitution also set up a national court system headed by a Supreme Court.
Representatives of many states noted that the Constitution didn’t contain guarantees of certain basic freedoms, individual rights and civil liberties. And while the delegates of Convention didn’t feel necessary to include such guarantees in the Constitution, the public insisted on such written guarantees against tyranny. Hence the “Bill of Rights” was added to the Constitution.
The Constitution came into force in March of 1798. Bill of the Rights consisting of 10 amendments, called amendments to the Constitution, was added to it in 1791. Meanwhile, the other amendments to the Constitution were adopted – nowadays it’s about 16. But the political system created by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is basically the same today as it was in 1790.
The Process that had been changing the world during last 200 years require to refer to Constitution as vivid creative document open to scientists and lawyers’ interpretation whose vocation is to adjust its statements with the factors which was impossible to predict when it was created.
Конституция США (2)
In the course of the Convention the delegates created a new form of government for the USA. The plan of it was simply stated in the document named “The Constitution of the USA”. This Constitution set up a federal system with a strong central government. A federal system means one in which power is shared between a central authority and its constituent parts with some rights reserved to each. A Constitution provided the elections of a national leader, or President. It provided that federal laws would be made only by a Congress consisting of representatives elected by the people. The Constitution also set up a national court system headed by a Supreme Court.
The delegates developed 3 branches form of government: executive, legislative and judicial. Each branch has its own power and enable to stand against another restricting its harmful activity. The Constitution also determines the powers, given to a Federal Government and the powers of sate government. The states was entitled to handle domestic business at discretion upon condition of observance of the democratic government principles.
For the purpose of emphasizing democratic nature of the Constitution, it started from preamble clearly expressing who set up the form of government: “We, the people of the US”, and for what: “in order to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to our selves and our posterity”.
Representatives of many states noted that the Constitution didn’t contain guarantees of certain basic freedoms, individual rights and civil liberties. And while the delegates of Convention didn’t feel necessary to include such guarantees in the Constitution, the public insisted on such written guarantees against tyranny. Hence the “Bill of Rights” was added to the Constitution.
The Constitution came into force in March of 1798. Bill of the Rights consisting of 10 amendments, called amendments to the Constitution, was added to it in 1791. Meanwhile, the other amendments to the Constitution were adopted – nowadays it’s about 16. But the political system created by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is basically the same today as it was in 1790.
The Process that had been changing the world during last 200 years require to refer to Constitution as vivid creative document open to scientists and lawyers’ interpretation whose vocation is to adjust its statements with the factors which was impossible to predict when it was created.
ВЫБОРЫ В США
President and Vice-President are the only officials of the USA government who are elected not directly by American voters, but by an electoral group of States, which forms an electoral college. To become President a candidate must receive a majority (270 from 538) of electoral college’s votes. The President and Vice-President must be voted for as a team.
Under the Constitution of the USA the President is in office for 4 years. The Congress fixed the date of the American presidential election – every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
The Republican and the Democratic Party organizations in each of 50 States and district Columbia, which includes Washington, prepare the list of electors.