The UK System of Government

Let me introduce myself. My name is …. I am a … (captain, senior lieutenant etc)of police and I study part-time at the extramural faculty of Saint-Petersburg university of the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation.

To become a law enforcement expert of high professional standards students must get good knowledge of such subjects and sciences as: general police administration, constitutional law, criminal law, the history of state and law, criminal procedure, civil law, foreign languages and many others. I study English language, and now I’ll speak about England.

The official name of the state is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is often referred to as Great Britain – after its major isle, or England – after its major historic part.

The United Kingdom is composed of four parts: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy, and a monarch (a king or a queen) is the official head of the state. The monarch is the head of the executive body, the head of the judiciary staff, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Crown, the head of the Church of England and the head of the Commonwealth. But the monarch has little direct power and reigns with the support of Parliament.

There are three branches in the system of government: (1) legislative, (2) executive, (3) judicial.

(1) The Queen-in-Parliament (or the Crown-in-Parliament) is the official name of the legislature in Great Britain. The British Parliament is the oldest one in the world. The two Houses of Parliament are the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The meeting place of both Houses is the Palace of Westminster.

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a nation-wide representative body. Members of the House of Commons (MPs) are elected by the voters of 650 constituencies every five years.

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The number of its members is not fixed.

(2) The executive power is represented by the Cabinet of ministers with the Prime Minister at the head. The Prime Minister is an MP, usually the leader of the political party with a majority in the House of Commons.

The second largest party in the House of Commons becomes the official opposition. Since 1945 the Conservatives or Labour have been either the Government or the Opposition.

(3) The law courtsrepresent the judicial branch of power.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-10