Unit I. THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT TASK 1. Before reading the text, tell the class what you
remember about the system of government in Great Britain.
TASK 2. Read the
text.
In theory, the constitution has three branches: Parliament, which makes
laws, the government, which "executes" laws, i.e. puts them into effect, and
the law courts, which interpret laws. Although the Queen is officially head of
all three branches, she has little direct power.
Parliament has two parts: the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Members of the House of Commons are elected by the voters of 650
constituencies. They are known as MPs, or Members of Parliament. The Prime
Minister, or leader of the Government, is also an MP, usually the leader of
the political party with a majority in the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister is advised by a Cabinet of about twenty other
ministers. The Cabinet includes the ministers in charge of major government
departments or ministries. Departments and ministries are run by civil
servants, who are permanent officials. Even if the Government changes after an
election, the same civil servants are employed.
The House of Lords consists of the Lords Temporal and the Lords Spiritual.
The Lords Spiritual are the Archbishops of York and Canterbury, together with
twenty-four senior bishops of the Church of England. The Lords Temporal
consist of hereditary peers who have inherited their titles; life peers who
are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Government for various
services to the nation; and the Lords of Appeal (Law Lords) who become life
peers on their judicial appointments. The latter serve the House of Lords as
the ultimate court of appeal. This appeal court consists of some nine Law
Lords who hold senior judicial office. They are presided over by the Lord
Chancellor and they form a quorum of three to five when they hear appeal
cases.
TASK 3. Analyze the chart. Give Russian
equivalents for the words in bold type.
TASK 4. Answer the
questions.
Which of these people are not elected: a peer, an MP, a civil servant, the Prime Minister?
What is the difference between life peers and hereditary peers, Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual?
What are civil servants?
Which areas of government do these people deal with: the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Home Secretary, the Lord Chancellor?
Find two examples of executive organisations outside central government.
TASK 5. Work in pairs and discuss the following
questions.
1. What differences are there between Parliament and the Government?
2. What are the similarities and differences between the UK parliamentary system and that of your own country?
Unit II PARLIAMENT
TASK 1. Complete the following text with the words and
expressions from the box.
The House of Commons This is the House of
Commons, where Members of Parliament take their seats on the green leather
(a)______according to their party and position. One of them is chosen to be
the (b)_______, who acts as a kind of chairman of the (c)_______which take
place in the House. In front of him on his right sit the MPs of the biggest
party, which forms the government, and facing them sit the MPs of the parties
who oppose them, the (d)_______. The leaders of these two groups sit at the
front on each side. MPs without special positions in their parties sit behind
their leaders at the back. They are called (e)_______. The leader of the
government, the (f) ______, sits on the government (g)_______, of course, next
to his or her (h)________. The most important of these form the _______ (i).
The minister responsible for relations with other countries is called the
(j)________. The one responsible for law and security is called the
(k)_________. The one who deals with financial matters and prepares the annual
(l)____________ spe ech on the economic state of the country is called the
(m)__________. Opposite this group sits the (n)________ (the main person in
the largest party opposing the government) and the (o)________, each member of
which specializes in a particular area of government.
TASK 2. Read the
text.
Making New Laws: Bills and Acts- 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 the Royal Assent, which is now just a formality. Since 1707 no
sovereign has refused a Bill. Whilst 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 then 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
Statute form, becoming a part of Statute 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 H ouse. 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.
TASK 3. 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; - отложить принятие законопроекта.
TASK 4. Explain the meanings of the following
expressions from the text
- Statute Law; - to be
published in Statute form; - to receive a formal reading; - to enforce
an Act of Parliament; - to be severely curtailed it; - a money
Bill. * Barristers are also found in South Africa and New South Wales
(Australia).
Київський університет права.
Лабораторія ЦДН Електронна бібліотека КУП