Civilisation britannique L II TOPIC I : THE INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT OF BRITAIN In Britain they speak of the constitution as being uncodified or flexible, whereas the American and the French systems are based on a single document. In its widest sense the constitution covers the various institutions that make up its core : the Crown, Parliament, the Government and Administration, and the Judiciary. More details The British constitution does not adhere to the doctrine of the separation of powers as practiced in the US and France. In the USA the constitution is enshrined in a document and the Supreme Court has the power to declare legislation unconstitutional while the President has the power to veto legislation. In this way congress(the legislature) is controlled or checked by the Supreme Court (the judiciary) and the Government (the executive). The three main branches of the constitution in Britain are the Legislature (Parliament, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons), the Executive (Government : Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the Civil Service) and the Judiciary (the law i.e, the courts, House of Lords). In this system, all members of the Executive must also be members of the House of Commons and House of Lords. I. The Role of Parliament Parliament can be traced back to the great assemblies of the middle ages when powerful magnates gave advice to the King and acknowledged the decisions. Since the end of the 18th century, the prerogative powers of the Crown have been gradually exercised by Ministers, and Parliament has become accountable to the electorate. A. The Monarchy Two of the most important powers of the monarchy relate to the opening and dissolution of Parliament. The former is associated with the Queen ‘s speech which, according to convention is written by the Government of the day. The second operates before the calling of a general election or after a major defeat of 1 the Government in the House of Commons. The Crown also appoints and dismisses Ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister. In general the Monarch gives automatic consent for all the bills passed in parliament. But as Head of State, the sovereign has in certain times of crisis played a constitutional role in helping to select Prime Ministers. Prime Ministers meet the Queen on a weekly basis to keep her abreast of political developments, and to ask for her advice, In recent years the popularity of the monarch has plummeted. A poll published in the summer of 1997 revealed that only 48 per cent of the respondents thought that Britain would be worse off if monarchy was abolished… The decline is partly due to the undignified behaviour of younger members of the family, but also far more to substantial problems, such as the cost of the institution. Parliament used to finance the royal family through the annual Civil List (list of sums appropriated annually by parliament to pay the expenses of the sovereign and his or her household) to whom money is paid by the government , while further expenses on behalf of the monarch were made by various ministerial departments. In spite of the immense wealth of theCrown the Queen used not to pay any income tax. But as from 1993, the Queen agreed that the Civil List should be reduced to include only herself, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen Mother, and announced that she would be paying income tax. Public sympathy for the royal family was not restored by the death of Princess Diana, princess of Wales in 1997. However, the death of the Queen Mother in 2002, along with the Golden Jubilee (the 50th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to power in 1952) of the same year, led to an upsurge of nostalgia and affection in public opinion. This mood was further reinforced when Elizabeth II turned 80 in 2006, which suggests that the existence of the monarchy is not a contentious issue today. B. The House of Lords Britain not only has a hereditary monarchy but also an Upper House, the membership of which is based largely on the same principle. The present House of Lords consists of the following groups. 1. Hereditary peers of the Realm. Those who have inherited their titles. number 814 2. Hereditary peers of Scotland 3. The Lords spiritual 4. The Lords in appeal 5. Life peers 2 The Lords spiritual (6) comprise the Archbishopsof York and Canterbury, the bishops of London, Durham and Winchester. The Lords in appeal known as the law lords, perform the judicial work of the House of Lords when it seats as a Court of Appeal. But recently their function has been taken over by a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom that was officially installed on October 1st, 2009. Lastly there are the life peers, about 590, who are usually appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister after a long period of public service. This group often includes ex-Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers and civil servants. They are appointed because they have a certain expertise in their respective domains and can help the government. There is an ongoing debate about how to make that chamber democratic and more representative. C. The House of Commons The House of Commons is the major legislative and debating body of the country. Representation in the present House of Commons is governed by the Representation of the People Act of 1985. There are now 646 Mps. An MP is elected either in a general election, (within every five years of Parliament) or a by election, the latter taking place usually after the death or the resignation of a sitting member. The influence of the House of Commons comes from its ability to speak to and for the people. An MPs’ day in the House begins in the early afternoon and can go on throughout the night. Half of the time is taken up with debating stages of a bill and raising local constituency issues. The rest is usually associated with various duties including oral questions to ministers, motions to discuss important current issues, scrutinizing of Government expenditure and Private members’ bills. The Speaker of the House, who is an MP protects its rights and is responsible for order and discipline during debates. He is elected by a secret ballot since 2009. He acts as an adjudicator in all procedural matters and has the power to temporarily evict a sitting member if he feels convention has been breached. When a debate is concluded, the Speaker puts the question to the House by rising from his chair and saying , « The question is… » He will then ask for a voice vote either for or against the question and makes a judgement as to who 3 has the majority. If the house agrees with his decison the debate ends. However if a party feels the need for a more formal vote, the Speaker will call for a second vote. The main function of the House is to scrutinize and analyse Government policies and actions through the conventions of questions in formal debates or in committees. The purpose of a question is to « obtain information and press for action » There are many types of questions : The usual one is the ORAL QUESTION although in fact the great majority of such questions are given written answers. But the most obvious and adversarial quesion time is the half hour each Wednesday afternoon when the Prime Minister has to answer MPs’ questions. During this time the Leader of the Opposition (the largest minority party in the House) is given a special opportunity to question the Prime Minister. This convention allows the backbenchers (MPs who do not hold office) to question ministers and to put their constituents’ views across. The committees also have a critical function in the detailed discussion that surrounds a piece of legislation.. Here MPs examine proposals of legislation and recommend revisions and changes.This is done outside the chamber and is part of the cross-examination process. Once a bill passes its second reading in the House of Commons it must be considered by a committee of the house which has responsibility for examining each clause and suggest improvemens and amendments. There are many types of bills • Public bills Bills that affect the entire community and are part of the general law of the country. Such bills are in general introduced by the minister responsible for the policy and would usually have been foreshadowed in the Queen’s speech. • Private bills They are introduced to change the law in respect of a particular locality or company. Unlike a public bill, such bills do not seek to affect the country as a whole. • Money bills They are normally associated with the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the form of budget proposal : 4 • Private member’s bills : Certain Fridays of the Parliamentary session are alloted to these bills. MPs not in government are allowed to bring in their own legislation and are chosen by ballot. II. THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS Parliament’s main role is to approve legislation.Bills often range from simple administrative proposals to highly controversial political changes, such as the privatization of nationalized industries or the introduction ofLocal Government finance. Ideas for new legislation can come from a variety of sources, for instance party advisers and professional bodies, but most bills originate in the parties’ electoral manifesto, which embodies most of its law making intentions. A. The Passage of a bill A bill goes through many readings in the House of Commons. Then it goes to the House of Lords and after new many readings it is given the Royal Assent.