小组学习任务单中的视频回顾
两党制下的英国政府
Government 两党制下的英国政府
Let’s start from Constitution
☆ It is usually described as unwritten, in fact it is a little misleading.
Parts of the British Constitution are written and some are not , It is not systematically codified into a single document. ◇
☆ Only Israel and New Zealand are comparable to Britain in having no single constitutional document.
The British Constitution is made up three main parts
The first one is
☆ statutory /`stæt∫utri/ Law (成文法):
It is the most important one and it takes precedence over the others if there is a clash. And the laws have actually been passed by Parliament ◇
For example:
☆ The Magna Carta (1215) which protect the rights of the community against the Crown.
☆ The Bill of Rights(1698) which extends the powers of Parliament,
The Reform Act (1832) which reforms the parliamentary electoral system.
☆ The European Communities Act (1972) define the relationship between Britain and the European Community.
☆ The second part is the Common Law
It has never been precisely defined, it will be deduced from customs or legal precedents and is interpreted in court cases by judges. ◇
The third part is Conventions, including rules and practices that is not legally enforceable, but are regarded as vital to the working of the government .
☆ There are three branches of Separation of Powers:The Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary
The Legislative(立法) power lies in Parliament which has the supreme authority.
Parliament of Britain is the Legislative body which Located in Westminster，It is the earliest ancestor in the western Parliament. It began in the 13th century.
The term “Parliament” was first official used in 12 36 to describe the gathering of feudal barons and representatives of countries and towns.
Acts of Parliament need the agreement of all three elements. Before a bill can become a law, it has to be passed by the House of Lords and House of Commons, and then given assent by the Queen. ◇
House of Lords is just Like the monarchy, it has no real authority.
They come according to their ranks. Theoretically the House of Lords is equal in power with the House of Common.
There are about 1175 numbers. The Lord Chancellor(大法官) as its leader, including Lords Spiritual whose title can be inherited by their descendants. ◇
☆ The house of commons is the center of the parliamentary power, composed of 635 Members of Parliament (MPs) that are elected by the people
The party which holds the majority of “seats” in the House of Commons form the government.
Each of the constituencies returns one member to the House of Commons. ◇
☆ The chief officer of the House of Commons is the Speaker, elected by MPs to preside over the House.
The executive body including theSovereign, Prime Minister & Cabinet
☆ Prime Minister will select the cabinet from their own party in the House of Commons. His authority comes from support in the House of Commons.
He Presides over the Cabinet,
Alocates functions among ministers and Informs the Queen of the general business of the Government .
☆Cabinet is at the center of the British political system, it is the supreme decision-making body in the British government.
It includes members of Commons and the members Sit on the “front benches”.
Cabinet members hold meetings for a few hours each week to decide Government policy on major issues.
They usually have meetings weekly on Thursday morning at 10 downing street. ◇
☆The Judiciary has Separate Legal Systems because of the complicated history
England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have their own legal systems with minor differences in law, organization and practice. ◇
☆The Jury is the other way that the public is involved in the process of justice
All criminal trials in the Crown Courts and the High Court are held before the jury and judge.
A group of ordinary citizens ( 15 in Scotland): drawn from a cross-section of the public and selected at random, they decide whether an accused person is guilty or innocent
They cannot ask questions in court; they should listen impartially to the evidence from all sides, and at last decide on the unanimous agreement of guilty or not guilty. ◇
☆Judges
are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. They are the basic principle of judicial independence.
They are not allowed to take part in politics formally and irremovable once appointed, of course, they will have very high salaries. ◇
Recently，Her majesty the queen announced the major work of the government that is brexit, let’s watch the video together.
