全屏显示专题章节

The English parliament developed out of the king’s council of the 13th century，a feudal assembly of leading barons summoned at the king’s will.In the 14th century parliament was formally divided into two parts：Lords and Commons.Until the 17th century，parliament was ruled by the king.The Glorious Revolution（1688）marked the decisive shift in power from monarch to parliament.Since 1832，the year of the first Reform Bill passed，the House of Commons has become more important than the House of Lords，though theoretically the two Houses are equally important.

Now the House of Lords，or the Upper House，has over 1，000nonelected members who are Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal.The Lords Spiritual include the two archbishops of the Church of England，Canterbury and York，and 42diocesan bishops.Their eligibility to sit ends on retirement.The Lords Temporal includehereditary peers and life peers.The titles of hereditary peers are five ranks.They are，in order of rank，Duke，Marquis，Earl，Viscount，and Baron.People holding these titles are eligible to sit in the House of Lords.Since 1963apeer has had the right to give up his title during his lifetime.But this does not prevent that peer’s heir from inheriting the title in the ordinary way.The life peer is the person who is given a title during his or her lifetime，usually as a reward for public service.The title of the life peer is not hereditary.Since the Life Peerage Act 1958，about 15to 20life peerages have been given each year，many of them to politicians，but also to such people as scientists and educators.

The functions of the House of Lords are both parliamentary and judicial.Its parliamentary functions run parallel to the House of Commons，but it does not now exercise the dominant constitutional influence.Formally a bill，except the bill concerning taxation and expenditure，passed by the House of Commons must be approved by the Upper House before becoming law.This arrangement actually gave the Upper House a veto power but they never used it.In 1911an Act was passed under which the House of Lords could not prevent for more than two years a bill from passing into law.The interval was reduced to one year by a further Act passed under the Labour government in 1949.So the House of Lords has no power to prevent the passing of legislation approved by the House of Commons，except perhaps during the last year before a general election.In fact it now seems unlikely that the Upper House would ever use even the small power which is still left to it.

However，in the judicial functions it is unique.The House of Lords is the highest court in the United Kingdom hearing civil and criminal appeals from the lower courts.But we must know the fact that when acting as the final court of appeal in Britain，the House of Lords employs only“law lords¹”，most of whom are elevated to the House specifically for the purpose.

The procedures of the Lords are more informal than those of the Commons，and their role in saving the Commons a great amount of time is widely recognized.Now the work of Lords is largely complementary to that of the House of Commons and includes examining and revising bills from the Commons and discussing important matters which the Commons cannot find time to debate.In law，all peers have the right to attend the debates，speak，vote，propose bills or resolutions，and ask questions of ministers.But many of them are not enthusiastic about debates.The average daily attendance is about 300peers and most of them are life peers.

The peers get no parliamentary salary.But they enjoy a small allowance for each day of attendance.The House is presided over by the Lord Chancellor² as its speaker.He is assisted in maintaining order by Black Rod³.The chief permanent officer of the House is the Clerk of the Parliament，who is appointed by the Crown but can only be removed at the instigation of the House.