Task 17. Divide the text into parts and give them names.

Task 18. Answer the questions:

1. How did it happen that men and women could sit together in the Strangers' gallery?

2. What is Guy Fawkes famous for?

3. Do they talk much in Par­liament?

4. How do you understand the joke that British Parliament can do anything but turn man into woman?

5. When are the words “Hats off, strangers!” usually pronounced?

6. How long does a session of the House of Commons last?

UNIT 7

BRITISH CONSTITUTION

Task 1. Read and translate the text.

Part I

In this important respect Britain differs from other countries because it has no written constitution,

Constitution is usually adopted at a turning point in the history of a country. In Britain for more than 300 years there have been no upheavals, no turning points since the time of the Glorious Revolution when the Bill of Rights was recognized and signed by Mary and William (1688-1689). That document deprived monarchy of its absolute power and limited it greatly. No constitution was written down either then or since but the Bill of Rights may be regarded as one which established a Constitutional Monarchy in Britain.

To bring the changes of life in agreement with the time a number of regulations were adopted known as Acts of Parliament. More than 6000 acts of Parliament are stored in Victoria Tower of Westminster. Some of them are of constitutional significance and form Statute of Westminster. When speaking of British Constitution usually the following three main sources are mentioned: Statute of Westminster, Common Law and Conventions.

Statute of Westminster makes the Bible of the British constitution, it comprises the most important Acts of Par­liament, which regulate political system of the country and rights and duties of British citizens. They are:

1. Magna Carta – the Great Charter of English liberties, forced from King John Lackland by English barons. It was signed by him on June 15, 1215. Lords' Council set by the Charta was the first limitation of monarch's absolute power and the beginning of future Parliament.

2. The Petition of Rights signed by Charles I in 1628. It substantially limited monarch's absolute power and extended the rights of Parliament and courts and protected the property of the bourgeoisie. It was signed by King Charles but ignored, that caused the English Revolution headed by Cromwell.

3. Habeas Corpus Act 1679 proclaimed sovereignty of person and his property, restraint or extension of the person's liberty in courts.

4. The Bill of Rights – the statute of 1689 signed by William III and Mary II. With minor changes it confirmed the Petition of Right and proclaimed the foundation of Constitutional Monarchy.

5. Statute of Westminster – the Act of Parliament of 1931 regulating the relations between the UK and its dominions. It confirmed full sovereignty of the former British dominions.

The second source of the British Constitution is Common Law. In most countries there exist the Civil Code and Criminal Code. In Britain there is the so called Common Law based on precedent, modified by a constant process of interpretation. Since the times of Queen Elizabeth I every case in court has been recorded. When a judge comes to a legal decision he is to agree it with similar or analogous precedents, i.e. to find a precedent, be guided by it, correlate his decision upon the precedent. Common Law is guided by the motto "What is not proved directly forbidden is allowed".

Conventions – the third source of the British Constitution – are unwritten laws. Though not codified or written they have a binding force as rules of the Constitution. If anyone violates those unwritten rules – he may lose his post, find himself in isolation, his career may be ruined. Conventions regulate the relations on different levels of the society from top to bottom: between the Monarchy and the Parliament, the Monarchy and the Government, between the Parliament and the Government, the Government and the Civil Service and so on. For example: the divine right of the Queen to choose her Prime Minister is a convention as well as the Queen's all other prerogatives; a member of the Government cannot criticize his Government, he is either to agree or to resign – that is collective responsibility convention. Many traditional ceremonies are conventions too (Queen's Opening of Parliament, her belonging to the House of Lords, inability to enter the House of Commons, the Commons appearance in the House of Lords at the State Opening of Parliament, the duties of the Speaker, etc.).

Notes to the text:

Glorious Revolution – «Славная революция» (1688-1689).

Statute of Westminster – Вестминстерский статут (1931; акт парламента о правовом положении британских доминионов и их взаимоотношениях с Великобританией; наряду с другими актами составляет статутарную основу английской конституционной практики)

Magna Carta – Великая хартия вольностей (грамота, подписанная королем под давлением восставших баронов в 1215; ограничивала королевскую власть и предоставляла более широкие права крупным феодалам)

Petition of Rights – Петиция о правах

Habeas Corpus Act – Закон о неприкосновенности личности

Bill of Rights – Билль о правах

dominion – доминион (название стран Британской империи, находившихся от нее в различной степени политической и экономической зависимости; признавали в качестве главы государства британского монарха; термин был введен в 1926, в 50-е гг. вышел из употребления)

Common Law – общее право

Civil Code – гражданский кодекс

Criminal Code – уголовный кодекс

convention – соглашение, общее согласие, обычай

binding – обязательный, обязывающий

divine – божественный

Task 2. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following words and word combinations: отличаться от чего-либо, поворотный момент, лишать чего-либо, ограничивать, принимать постановления, конституционного значения, парламентские акты (законы), права и обязанности, подписывать, расширять права, провозгласить суверенитет, ограничение свободы, подобный прецедент, руководствоваться девизом, нарушать правила, потерять должность, разрушить карьеру.

Task 3. Find in the text the derivatives of the following words: different, to agree, to regulate, constitution, significance, to follow, to limit, to begin, sovereign, to extend, to interpret, to decide, responsible, to found, proper, able.

Task 4. Find in the text and translate all the word combinations with the nouns used in the possessive case. Paraphrase the following word combinations using the possessive case of nouns:

the exports of Britain,

the approval of the politicians,

the success of the company,

the population of the world,

the rights of the citizens,

the decision of the lawyer,

the economic system of the government,

the resignation of the president.

Task 5. Answer the questions:

1. How does the British Constitution differ from the constitutions of many other countries?

2. What are the three main sources of the British Constitution?

3. What are: Statute of Westminster? Common Law? Conventions?

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