Notes to the Text

White Paper – An official report from the British government, explaining their ideas and plans concerning a particular subject before a new law is introduced.

Lord Weatherill

Wakeham’s Royal Commission

Task I. Use the words from ACTIVE VOCABULARY to describe the legislative process in your country:

an overwhelming majority alter appoint back (v) composition of the House continuity of membership introduce the bill obtain a seat

pass the bill reach a compromise reduce membership reserve (adj.) serve non-renewable terms stand for election the most hotly debated point underpin

Task II. a) Consult a law dictionary or GLOSSARY if necessary to definethe following concepts:

political agenda, life Peers, non-renewable term, proposal, motion, primacy of the House of Commons, legitimate, an elected chamber, be entitled to sit in the House, without the consent of the upper house.

b) Comment on the principles that should underpin a reformed House of Lords.

Task III. Use STAND and its derivatives in the following sentences:

Long standing, understandable, stands, feudal understanding, to stand, notwithstanding, to stand as, standing, understand, standing, standards, understanding, stands down, withstand, stand, misunderstanding

1. … an MP a person must be aged 18 or over, a citizen of the UK, Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland, and not disqualified.

2. Some theorists drew upon civilian, canonist, and other writings to explain English law and government, combining the European idea that political authority was derived from the community with the feudal … of counsel and consent that had long prevailed in English practice.

3. In 1334, Chief Justice Herle explained that although the judges could not change a rule of …, the party if he wished could 'sue in parliament to make a new law'.

4. We can never … the institutions of mediaeval England if we consider Parliament as a 'court of justice' which in addition exercised other distinct powers, or as a legislature with an addendum of other duties. It is the fusion of indefinite powers which is the most fundamental fact. If Parliament exercised a fusion of judicial and legislative powers, and was supreme with respect to both, then it possessed a fusion of what we now regard as two kinds of supremacy.

5. Many theorists deny this partly because they deny that the existence of law-making, in the modern sense, was recognized in the Middle Ages, … the 'fusion' of powers exercised by medieval Parliaments.

6. Justice is every person to do his office that he is put in according to his estate and degree, and as for this land it is understood that it … by three estates and above that one principal: that is to wit Lords Spiritual, Lords Temporal and Commons, and over that Estate Royal above, as our sovereign Lord the King.

7. Hart has shown that legislative sovereignty can be regarded as a power constituted by rules of recognition, and therefore by fundamental laws, rather than as a power … completelyoutside and above the law.

8. Dicey's … of parliamentary sovereignty, clarified so as to accommodate this distinction between legal and moral duty, was by no means novel.

9. 'Modern assertions of unlimited sovereignty', says one leading critic, 'rest on a … of constitutional history'.

10. Each decision may extend the judges' authority only slightly, but the eventual cumulative effect is a massive expansion far beyond what was originally intended. For entirely … reasons, the temptation to stretch their authority to remedy what they perceive to be injustice can be 'more than judicial flesh and blood' can ….

11. A government and Parliament prepared to flout minimum … of justice or democracy are unlikely to have sufficient respect for the rule of law to meekly submit to judicial correction.

12. Former MPs would be allowed... for election to the Upper House, but members of the Upper House would not be immediately allowed to become MPs.

13. In a general election, all constituencies become vacant and a Member of Parliament is elected for each from a list of candidates … for election.

14. If a person … as an MP a by-election is held in that constituency alone to find a new MP for that area.

15. Speakers still … in general elections.

b) Translate the sentences.

Task IV. Fill in the blanks with prepositions if necessary. Check against the text:

To be … the political agenda, to be engaged … reforming the House of Lords, to be committed … extensive reform, to exclude peers... the House, … a temporary basis, to vote … the bill, … these proposals, single terms... 15 years, to sit … a committee

Task V. Read the text and summarise each paragraph in 2-3 sentences:

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