Limba Engleza :

R E F E R A T

The Source of the English Constitution

STATUTE LAW

The first major source for the law of the constitution comes in the form of legislation. The Magna Carta, extracted from King John in 1215 under threat of civil war, was the earliest attempt to limit the powers of the monarch and to define the extent of the rights and liberties his subjects might hope to enjoy. The re-enactment of this great Charter in 1297 constitutes the first in a long series of statutes dealing with ever-shifting functions of the major organs of government and their relationship with one another. Each statute deals only with a very limited area of concern. There is no attempt to

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impose an overall all-embracing vision of the Constitution as a whole. The following is a list of the statutes which are of greatest constitutional significance, with a brief summary of their contents.

1297, Re -; issue of the Magna Carta ( 1215 )

This is a declaration of certain fundamental principles : no one should lose his life or liberty “ except by the lawful judgement of his equals and by the law of the land ” : the king should not sell, deny or delay justice ; punishment should be in relation to the seriousness of the crime, etc.

1653, The Instrument of Government

This was a first attempt to draw up a written constitution setting out the different functions of the Lord Protector* ( Oliver Cromwell ), of his Council of state and of Parliament, as well as various safeguards against the abuse of power, and specifying how often Parliament should be summoned and who might be eligible to vote in elections, etc.

1679, The Habeas Corpus Amendment Act

This contains provisions ensuring that persons imprisoned without legal cause, whether by the Crown or by private individuals, should, on obtaining a writ of habeas Corpus, have the detention examined by a judge within a set period of time.

1689, The Bill of Rights

It declares that the monarch’s ‘pretended’ power of suspecting or dispensing with laws without the consent of Parliament is illegal, that elections and debate in Parliamnet should be free, and that Parliament should be summoned frequently, etc.

1701, The Act of Settlement

This deals with the question of succession to the throne ( through a specified Protestant line ) and with the conditions of tenure, payment and dismissal of judges.

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1707, The Act of Union

This brought about the abolition of the Scottish Parliament and united the governments of England and Scotland. Henceforth, Scottish MPs took their seats at Westminster.

1832, The First Reform Act

Its main features were an extension of the franchise ( more or less doubling the numbers of those eligible to vote ), a redistribution of parliamentary seats towards the industrial north of England, and the setting up of electoral registration as a pre-condition for voting. Property remained the basic criterion for the franchise.

1867, The Representation of the People Act

This second Reform Act brought about a further extension of parliamentary franchise and a redistribution of seats. This resulted in an increase in the middle-class vote in the countries, and the enfranchisement of the artisans in the towns.

1872, The Ballot Act

This was a vital piece of legislation, setting up the secret ballot at parliamentary electrions and thereby doing away with the old system of voting in public which nade voters so vulnerable to ‘presure’ from over-enthusiastic candidates.

1884, The Representation of the People Act

This third Reform Act ensured the extension of the vote to the agricultural worker.

1991, The Parliament Act

This laid down the reduced powers of the House of Lords with regard to Money Bills in particular -; the maximum the House could delay such a bill was limited to 1 month and Public Bills in general ( maximum delay : 2 years ). It also shortened the life of Parliament from 7 to 5 years.

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1918, The Representation of The People Act

This extended the franchise to all men over 21 who had been resident in their constituency for more than 6 months, and to women over 30 subject to certain conditions.

1928, The Representation of the People Act

This removed the remaining discrimination against women. Registration as a voter was henceforth on the basis of age ( 21 and over ), and residence in the constituency concerned ( a minimum period of 3 months ).

1949, The Parliament Act

This completed the work done by 1911 Act by reducing the House of Lords’ suspensive veto on legislation to a period of 1 year.

1958, The Life Peerages Act

This was designed to reinforce and widen the the basis of the House of Lords by providing for the creation of non-hereditary or ‘life’ peerages for commoners who had played a permanent role in public life. Such people hold the rank of baron or Baroness.

1963, The Peerage Act

This was designed to enable a hereditary to disclaim his peerage ( without in any way prejudicing succesion to it on his death ). The Act was passed under pressure from Anthony Wedgwood Benn ( now called Tony Benn ), who, as Viscount stansgate, would other have been permanently excluded from his seat in the House of Commons.

1969, The Representation of The People Act

This lowered the voting age to 18.

1972, The European Communities Act

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This stipulates that the U.K. is bound by rulings of the european Court. It recognises certain categories or rules dealing with the rights and duties of individuals are to be applied directly in british courts without any further enactment by the Westminster Parliament.

1985, The Representation of The People Act

This contains provisions concerning the voting rights of expatriate Britons and holidaymakers.

• After the civil wars ( 1642-1646 and 1648 ), Charles I was executed ( 1649 ) and England became a ‘commonwealth’ under Oliver Cromwell who became ‘Lord Protector’ in 1653. The monarchy was restored in 1660 under Charles II.