I. Constitution and Monarchy

LECTURE 3

POLITICAL SYSTEM

I. Constitution and Monarchy

The United Kingdom is one of the few developed countries where a constitutional monarchy has survived with its ages-old customs, traditions and ceremonies. The British constitution, unlike that of many other countries, is not formulated in any single document: there is no written constitution. The supporters believe that the current way allows for flexibility and change to occur without too many problems. Those who want a written constitution believe that it should be codified so that the public as a whole has access to it - as opposed to just constitutional experts who know where to look and how to interpret it.

The British Constitution comes from a variety of sources. The main ones are:

Ø Statutes. The principal constitutional documents are: Magna Charta (1215), the Petition of Right (1628), the Bill of Rights (1689), the Act of Settlement, and the Representation of the People Acts

Ø Laws and Customs of Parliament, political conventions A convention is an accepted way in which things are done. They are not written down in law but their very existence over the years has invariably lead to the smooth operation of government.... that, since the reign of Queen Anne, the monarch has not refused to grant the Royal Assent to Bills passed by Parliament.... that the monarch will not dissolve Parliament without the advice of the Prime Minister.... that the monarch will ask the leader of the dominant party in the House of Commons to form a government.

Ø Common law\ The main feature of common law is its foundation on case law, that is, precedents set by previous cases which can be used to settle new disputes and developed further according to new legislation

Ø Constitutional experts who have written on the subject such as Walter Bagehot and A.V Dicey.

The unwritten constitution can be altered by Act of Parliament, or by general agreement to create, vary or abolish a convention.

The key concepts around which the unwritten constitutional norms have evolved are the rule of law and parliamentary sovereignty.

The Rule of Law involves:

• The rights of individuals are determined by legal rules and not the arbitrary behaviour of authorities.

• There can be no punishment unless a court decides there has been a breach of law.

• Everyone, regardless of your position in society, is subject to the law.

Sovereignty of parliament forms the second pillar of the British constitution. Parliament is responsible for passing laws and is solely responsible for controlling legislation. A constitutional court with the power to revise decisions of Parliament does not exist. Parliamentary sovereignty was achieved in 1688/89 during the Glorious Revolution. The Bill of Rights (1689) meant parliamentary independence, an end to absolutist rule in Great Britain and the foundation of the constitutional monarchy.

The UK is a constitutional monarchy; the official head of state is the monarch (at present Elizabeth II). The full royal title of the Queen is: 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 head of the executive, an integral part of legislature, head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all armed forces, the " supreme governor" of the established Church of England - the Anglican Church and the personal Head of the Commonwealth. The United Kingdom is governed by Her Majesty's Government in the name of the Queen.

Although the Queen is deprived of actual power, she has retained many important, though formal, functions, such as ^opening and closing Parliament, ^approving of the appointment of the Prime Minister, ^giving her Royal Assent to bills, giving honours such as peerages, knighthoods and medals.

The title to the crown derives from the common law rules of descent. Succession is limited to lineal Protestant descendants of Princess Sophia, granddaughter of James I of England. Sons have precedence over daughters in the line of succession. When she becomes queen regnant, but her husband special rank or privileges.

The royal family one of the biggest landowners in Britain.The Royal Family's money comes from 2 sources: government funds and their own personal wealth, which is considerable. On the one hand, the Queen is certainly one of the richest women in the world, while on the other her, power is limited by the fact that so many of her expenses are paid for by government money. Parliament has had control of the monarch's finances since the seventeenth century.

II. Government functions through three bodies: The - legislative aspect is Parliament where laws are passed; • the executive (which plans prospective laws and formulates policy) is the cabinet of the government and - the judiciary is the Law Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council who have a final say on legal issues.

But!!!!

• The Prime Minister is an active member of the legislative (and can vote in Parliament, though a recent criticism of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown is that their voting record is one of the poorest of MP's in the Commons.

• Also the Lord Chancellor is a member of the cabinet and therefore of the executive as well as being head of the judiciary.

• The House of Lords contains the Law Lords who are an important part of the judiciary.

Therefore, there is a merging of roles in the British model.