CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

1. Country is governed by monarch

2. Monarch receives authority from parliament (monarch reigns, but not rule)

PARLIAMENT - Middle Ages. There was always a conflict between parliament and monarch, and parliament won the struggle.

There's NO CONSTITUTION in Britain. Instead of it, there are other elements:

1. Acts of Parliament

2. Common Law

It's the basis of legal system in UK. These are decision taken by judges and repeated. Sometimes the decision is changed (because the situation changed), then the new decision becomes basis. It's ORAL - nothing written.

British Colonies also have the Common Law as the basis of legal system.

3. Convention

When people do sth for ages, and there's a person which decides that it should be changed -> it becomes precedent (precedens). Convention is assumption (przypuszczenie, założenie) to do sth based on precedens.

THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

1. Parliament - legislative body

• The Queen - all bills before they became laws must be signed by The Queen

• House of Commons - <sejm> elected house, not proportional elections (each chooses on MP - Member of Parliament)

• House of Lords - upper house, not exactly like our senat, it's not elected.

2. Government - executive body

• Cabinet and other ministers (most important people in country) - central level

• Government departments (minister and his people, eg. Department of education) - central level

• Local governments

• Public corporations - organizations controlled by the state eg. BBC

3. Law courts - judiciary

• Firstly interpreting laws and explaining them to ordinary people

• They determine common law

Officially, The Queen is head of all this bodies, but in fact everything is done with advice of government. Each elements are SEPARATE. They meet together at only 1 occasion: “The State Opening of Parliament” (in October). Members of HoL sit and members of HoC are invited, but they stand.

Parliament is opened in House of Lords - there's a Queen's Throne there. Queen never goes to House of Commons because in 17 century there was attempt to kill the monarch.

PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVES FOR:

1. The UK as a whole

2. Any part of the country

3. Chanel Island's and the Isle of Man - parliament also decides about them, but not HoC. HoL

• Local assemblies (zgromadzenia) - they decide

• Privy Council - Queen, MPs - votes for bills

• Queen approves, and then sth become law

FUNCTIONS OF PARLIAMENT

1. To pass laws

2. To provide money for the government (through taxes)

Financial bills are decided only by the HoC (+Queen), they omit the HoL.

3. Controlling the work of the government - comitees (from different parliamentary parties, also from opposition)

4. To examine detail government policy - in parliament can discuss it - “question time” - everyone can ask the government “why the decision was taken?” etc. and these questions must be answered

5. To debate major political issues - important events, discuss them, there at the beginning

DURATION OF PARLIAMENT

1. Max 5 years, but the government never waits till the last moment. Prime Minister asks Queen at the time he thinks his party will won the election.

2. It is often dissolved (rozwiązywany) earlier (4 years)

3. Dissolution and writs for elections are ordered by the Queen on the advice of Prime Minister - Queen's duty is to accept Prime Minister's advice.

SESSIONS

1. One parliamentary session lasts one year (if a bill doesn't become law for 1 year it is dropped, from October to November

2. Breaks: Christmas, Easter English bank holidays (eg. Holiday is on Sunday, so the next day is day off), summer holidays.

House of Commons - 170 working days

House of Lords - 160 working days

KULTURA - 11 October 2011

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