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Making New Laws: Bills and Acts
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The functions of Parliament are: making laws; providing money for the government through taxation; examining government policy, administration and spending; debating political questions.
Every year Parliament passes about a hundred laws directly, by making Acts of Parliament. Because this can be a long process, Parliament sometimes passes a very general law and leaves a minister to fill in the details. In this way, it indirectly passes about 2,000 additional rules and regulations.
No new law can be passed unless it has completed a number of stages in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The monarch also has to give a Bill of Royal Assent, which is now just a formality. Since 1707 no sovereign has refused a Bill. Whit a law is still going through Parliament it is called a Bill. There are two main types of Bills-Public Bills which deal with matters of public importance and Private Bills which deal with local matters and individuals.
Public and Private Bills are passed through Parliament in much the same way. When a Bill is introduced in the House of Commons, it receives a formal first reading. It is then printed and read a second time, when it is debated but not amended. After the second reading the Bill is referred to a committee, either a special committee made up of certain members of the House, or to the House itself as a committee. Here it is discussed in detail and amended, if necessary. The Bill is them presented for a third reading and is debated. If the Bill is passed by the Commons it goes to the Lords, and provided it is not rejected by them, it goes through the same procedure as in the Commons. After receiving the Royal Assent the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament. In order to be enforced, it must be published in Stature form, becoming a part of Stature Law. The power of the Lords to reject a Bill has been severely curtailed. A money Bill must be passed by the Lords without amendment within a month of being presented in the House. The Act of 1949 provides that any Public Bill passed by the Commons in two successive parliamentary sessions and rejected both times by the Lords, may be presented for the Royal Assent, even though it has not been passed by the Lords. The Lords, therefore, can only delay the passage of a Public Bill, they cannot reject it.
Find in the text the English equivalents for the following expressions.
-абсолютное большинство;
-отклонить законопроект;
-выдвинуть законопроект;
-налогообложение;
-внести поправку в законопроект;
-обсуждать политические вопросы;
-королевская санкция;
-ассигновать деньги для нужд правительства;
-принять закон;
-обсуждать законопроект;
-подробно обсудить;
-направить законопроект на рассмотрение;
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-отложить принятие законопроекта;
Explain the meaning of the following expressions from the text.
-Stature Law;
-to be published in Stature form;
-to receive a formal reading;
-to enforce an Act of Parliament;
-to be severely curtailed;
-a money Bill.
-The Ministry;
-Government Departments
-Civil Service;
The Home (Foreign) Office;
-The Treasury.
Find in the text the English equivalents for the following expressions.
-вступать в должность;
-сформировать правительство;
-круг вопросов;
-почётная должность;
-единогласное решение;
-осуществлять политику правительства;
-подлежать контролю;
Answer the questions.
1. What are the functions of:
a) Parliament;
b) The Prime Minister;
c) The Privy Council;
d) The Cabinet;
e) The Government Departments?
2. Who does the cabinet consist of?
3. What is «collective responsibility»?
4. Who is each department headed by? What are their functions?
5. What is a government agency?
Text №3
Read the text
Members of Parliament in Great Britain
Each Member of Parliament (MP) represents one of 650 constituencies in the UK. British elections are usually fought between political parties, not individuals. Therefore, people who want to be elected to be elected to Parliament need to be nominated by one of main political parties.
There is nothing to stop unconventional candidates from standing for election, however. A candidate has only to put down a deposit of 500 pounds and collect ten signatures from residents in the constituency where he wants to stand. A candidate who gets less than 5 per cent of the total votes loses his deposit. For somebody who is standing for election for publicity purposes, this is a small prize to pay.
Although MPs will support a particular party, they are not controlled by that political party and theoretically do not have to vote with their party in Parliament. MPs represent everyone in the constituency, not just the people who voted for them.
A lot of MPs’ work has nothing to do with voting in Parliament. There are hundreds of things MPs have to deal with in the day-to-day business of constituency life, such as housing or health care. MPs are there to help people and to try to make sure their rights under the law are not violated.
Some MPs hold an advice bureau in their constituencies, where people can go for advice. Anyone who feels that he has been unfairly treated by the central government can complain to their local MP who will do his best to see that the problem is solved.
Members of Parliament have been paid salaries since 1911. The rate has lately been nearly twice the average industrial worker’s wages. Since 1965 the allowances for travel, living in London; and paying part-time secretaries and research assistants, have all been increased. Still many MPs insist that they need to have outside earnings, through journalism, work in the law courts or business, to enable them to live up to the standard they expect.
Find in the text the English equivalents for the following phrases.
-обращаться за советом;
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-баллотироваться в своём избирательном округе;
-нарушать права;
-выдвинуть свою кандидатуру на партии;
-собирать подписи;
-участвовать в избирательной компании в рекламных целях;
-средняя зарплата рабочего;
-несправедливо обойтись с кем либо.
Text №4
THE ROYAL FAMILY
Read the texts.
The Sovereign
«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».
The Queen is the official Head of State and, for many people, a symbol of the unity of the nation. For a thousand years England (and later the whole of the United Kingdom) has been united under one sovereign, a continuity broken only after the Civil War, by the republic of 1649 to 1660. The hereditary principle still operates and the Crown I passed on the sovereign’s eldest son (or daughter if there are no sons).
The Queen has a central role in state affairs, not only through her ceremonial functions, such as opening Parliament, but also because she meets the Prime Minister every week and receives copies of all Cabinet papers. However, she is expected to be impartial or «above politics», and any advice she may offer the Prime Minister is kept secret.
Functions of the Sovereign:
-opening and closing Parliament;
-approving the appointment of the Prime minister;
-giving her Royal Assent to bills;
-giving honours such as peerages, knighthoods and medals;
-Head of the Commonwealth;
-Head of the Church of England;
-Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.
The Queen Elizabet h
The Queen Elizabeth 2 is the official Head of State and for many people she is a symbol of unity of the nation.
Queen Elizabeth 2 is not only the monarch of the United Kingdom but also of Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as many other countries in the Commonwealth (an association of States that were once ruled by Britain). She is also Head of the Church of England. However, the Queen has almost no power to influence the church.
As Head of the Commonwealth, the Queen has more freedom from the government. When the Queen was growing up, the British Empire still had colonies, and she watched as they became independent members of the Commonwealth. She has met and knows the leaders of these countries. Although she has no executive powers as Head of the Commonwealth, she takes her role very seriously. However, Britain is now a member of the European Community and is moving away from its links with the Commonwealth. In addition, people in some of the major Commonwealth countries, such as Australia and Canada, wonder if they should be connected to a monarch so far away.
Queen Elizabeth 2 is married to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburg. The heir to the throne is Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.
The Queens other children are Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. This group is usually called the royal family, together with Queen Elizabeth’s mother – the Queen Mother who died in 2002 at the age of 101.
The Queens power is limited by Parliament but every week she meets the Prime Minister and receives copies of the all cabinet papers.
Elizabeth is the head of the executive, of the judicial power and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the U.K. She also has to fulfill her ceremonial functions such as opening of Parliament, for example.
Text №5
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