 |
The British Constitution
|
|
|
|
TEXT 6
The British Constitution
The British Constitution is unwritten unlike the constitution in America or the proposed European Constitution, and as such, is referred to as an uncodified constitution in the sense that there is no single document that can be identified as Britain's constitution. The British Constitution can be found in a variety of documents. The main ones are: Statutes (the Magna Carta of 1215 and the Act of Settlement of 1701), Acts of Parliament; customs and traditions, political conventions, case law; constitutional matters decided in a court of law.
Since the English Civil War, the core principle of the British constitution has traditionally been the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, according to which the statutes passed by Parliament are the UK's supreme and final source of law. It follows that Parliament can change the constitution simply by passing new Acts of Parliamentto to be followed by the Royal Assent. There is some debate about whether this principle remains entirely valid today, in part due to the UK's European Union membership.
According to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, Parliament may pass any legislation that it wishes. There are many Acts of Parliament which themselves have constitutional significance. For example, Parliament has the power to determine the length of its own term. However, the Sovereign retains the power to dissolve parliament at any time on the advice of the Prime Minister. Parliament also has the power to change the structure of its constituent houses and the relation between them.
Parliament consists of the Sovereign, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. All the legislation must receive the approval of the Sovereign (Royal Assent). Following the accession of the UK to European Economic Community (now the European Union) in 1972, the UK became bound by European law and more importantly, the principle of the supremacy of European Union law.
The House of Commons alone possesses the power to pass a motion of no confidence in the Government, which requires the Government either to resign or seek fresh elections. Such a motion does not require passage by the Lords, or Royal Assent. Parliament traditionally also has the power to remove individual members of the government by impeachment. By the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 it has the power to remove individual judges from office for misconduct.
The executive power in the United Kingdom is exercised by the Sovereign through Her Majesty's Government. The monarch appoints a Prime Minister as the head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister then selects the other Ministers which make up the Government. As in some other parliamentary systems of government, the executive is answerable to Parliament.
The Courts of the United Kingdom are separated into three separate jurisidictions serving England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as the United Kingdom does not have a single unified judicial system.
|
|
|
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 created a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the judicial functions of the House of Lords and devolution cases from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Supreme Court began work in 2009, and serves as the highest court of appeal in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland, and for civil cases in Scotland. The High Court of Justiciary will remain the court of last resort in Scotland for criminal cases.
4. Согласитесь или опровергните следующие утверждения.
- The British Constitution is unwritten like the Constitutions of the USA and the Proposed European Constitution.
- The British Constitution can be found in a variety of documents.
- Amendments to the British Constitution need the approval of the both Houses of Parliament, but they do not need the Royal Assent.
- The parliamentary sovereignty has always been the core principle of the British Constitution.
- The Sovereign has no power to dissolve parliament.
- Parliament has no power to change the structure of its houses.
- The British Parliament consists only of the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
- The European law has priority over the UK law.
- The executive power in the United Kingdom is exercised by the Sovereign.
- The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 created a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
5. Прочитайте текст о разных видах конституции и переведите его письменно.
Types of Constitutions
A Constitution is a system which establishes the fundamental rules and principles which a state will use to govern and regulate.
There are several types of constitutions: written/unwritten constitution, rigid/flexible constitution, federal/unitary constitution.
The term written constitution is used to describe a constitution that is entirely written, that is codified in one single document. Written constitutions normally consist of a ceremonial preamble, which sets forth the goals of the state and the motivation for the constitution, and several articles containing the substantive provisions.
The term unwritten constitution is used to describe a based on series of laws over time. Unwritten constitutions could contain written sources: e. g. constitutional statutes enacted by the Parliament; and also unwritten sources: constitutional conventions, customs and traditions.
Many historians use the term “rigid” to describe the Constitution because the provisions are in a written document that cannot be legally changed with the same ease and in the same manner as ordinary laws. On the other hand, the Constitution is called “flexible” because it is an unwritten document that can be changed by an act of Parliament or through a process of amendment.
The federal constitution establishes the division of authority between the Federal Government and the component units of the government. In a federal constitution, sovereignty is invested in the central government. It allows a limited amount of government among units.
|
|
|
The unitary constitution relates to the parliament. It follows parliamentary system of power. The unitary constitution establishes a unitary system of government where a central government does exist. Although units are associated with that government, sovereignty is controlled by the central government.
6. Используя текст, охарактеризуйте конституции Российской Федерации, США и Великобритании.
UNIT 6 E-MAIL IN ENGLISH
1. Подумайте и ответьте на вопросы:
- What is email?
- What do you think about this way of communication?
- How often do you write emails?
- How does email differ from a letter?
- Do you know any rules of writing an email?
Каждое письмо E-mail содержит две основные части: заголовок и тело.
Заголовок письма содержится в следующих полях:
· В поле To: (Куда) записывается адрес получателя сообщения. В зависимости от используемого сервера или почтовой клиент-программы это поле может называться Message To: или Mail To:.
· Поле From: (Ваш адрес E-mail) Обычно этот адрес автоматически записывается и поэтому может отсутствовать на экране.
· В поле Subject: (Тема) указывается краткая аннотация содержания сообщения (не более 20–30 знаков)
· В поле Сс (carbone copy): (Копия) при необходимости записываются адреса корреспондентов, которым рассылаются копии сообщений.
· В поле Всс (blind carbone copy): (Скрытая копия) указываются адреса корреспондентов, которым копии сообщений рассылаются в тайне от первого адресата.
Структура тела электронного письма:
- Salutation (приветствие). Выбор приветственной фразы зависит того, насколько хорошо вы знаете адресата.
- Opening sentence (вступительное предложение). Объясняет причину создания письма, всегда начинается с заглавной буквы.
- Main part (основная часть). Содержание письма.
- Conclusion (заключение). Часть, в которой вы сообщаете о том, что ждете (или не ждете) ответа от адресата.
- Close (прощание).
|
|
|
