Text 72. Constitution of Great Britain

A Constitution is the basic law of a state. The main ele­ments of the constitution are the definitions of the legislatu­re, the executive and the judiciary. The government in the ge­neral sense comprises all three.

Great Britain has an unusual constitution. It is partly unw­ritten and consists of: a) the laws passed in Parliament (Acts of Parliament); b) Common Law – decisions made by judges in the past; c) various unwritten conventions. All these things can be changed at any time by new Acts of Parliament, by the judges, and by the acceptance of new conventions.

Answer the following questions:

1. What are the main elements of the constitution?

2. Why is the British constitution unusual?

Text 73. PARLIAMENT OF GREAT BRITAIN (1)

Officially the head of the state is the monarch. The power of the monarch is not absolute but constitutional and is restric­ted by Parliament.

Parliament in Britain exists since 1265. It is the eldest Parliament in the world.

Parliament is the supreme legislative body. It can make or unmake any law. The British Parliament consists of two Houses – the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The House of Lords or the Upper House consists of more than 1,000 hereditary peers.

The House of Commons is a nation-wide representative body. It has 630 members (M.P.’s). They are elected by a universal adult suffrage.

Of two great political parties – Conservative and Labour – the party which gets the majority of seats in the House of Com­mons is called the Government, and the other – the Opposition. The Government may hold office for five years.

Any member of the House of Commons may introduce a Bill. After three readings in the House of Commons it must be appro­ved by the House of Lords. After that the monarch signs the Bill and it becomes an Act of Parliament.

Answer the following questions:

1. Who is the head of the state in Great Britain?

2. Since what time does the Parliament exist?

3. What parts does the Parliament consist of?

4. What are the leading political parties in Great Britain?

5. How do they pass laws in Great Britain?

Text 74. THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT (2)

The supreme legislative authority in the United Kingdom is the Queen in Parliament, that is to say the Queen and the Houses of Parliament – the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

By the Parliament Act, 1911, the life of Parliament was fixed at five years.

A Parliament (a parliamentary period) begins and ends with a proclamation made by the Sovereign. The resignation of the government usually entails the dissolution of Parliament. The time between the meeting of Parliament and its dissolution is called a session.

The average length of a session is about 160 sitting days divided into the following periods: one from November until Christmas lasting about 30 sitting days, one from January to Easter lasting about 50 sitting days and one from Easter until Whitsunday¹ lasting about 30 sitting days, and one from Whitsunday until the end of July lasting about 40 sitting days. Nowadays, the session is usually concluded with a short period of about 10 sitting days in October, after the long summer holidays.

The House of Lords consists of about 900 members, including the Lords “Temporal”² (i.e. Barons, Earls, Marquises, and Dukes³) and Lords “Spiritual”⁴ (i.e. the two archbishops (of Canterbury and York) and 24 bishops of the Church of England.

The leader is the Lord Chancellor, who has a picturesque seat on the woolsack, a large bag of wool covered with red cloth. The woolsack is the reminder of the times when England’s commer­cial prosperity was founded on her wool exports.

The House of Commons is elected by an almost universal adult suffrage. There are at present 630 members of the House of Commons (511 for England, 36 for Wales, 71 for Scotland, 12 for Northern Ireland). The election is held every five years, and at this election every person above the age of 21 has a vote. The party which has the largest number of members takes office and is called the Government. The party or parties in the minority is called the Opposition. The Government sits on the right of the Speaker’s chair, the Opposition on the left.

Notes:

1. Whitsunday – Троицын день;

2. the Lords “Temporal” – светские члены палаты лордов;

3. Barons, Earls, Marquises, Dukes – бароны, графы, маркизы, герцоги;

4. the Lords “Spiritual” – епископы – члены парламента.

Answer the following questions:

1. What is the supreme legislative authority in the United Kingdom?

2. How does a parliamentary period begin and end?

3. What is the average length of a session?

4. How many members are there in the House of Lords?

5. Who is the leader of the House of Lords?

6. How many members are there in the House of Commons at present?

7. How is the party in the minority called? And in the majority?