英国历史文化概况UNIT4LawsandRules

,Unit 4 Laws and Rules,CONTENTS,1,2,1,TEACHING AIMS,After studying this unit, you are required to: 1. Have a general idea of the law system in UK. 2. Learn something about the Constitution of the United Kingdom. 3. Master the difficult words and expressions.,Text A Constitution of the United Kingdom,TEXT A Preview,和其他许多国家不同，英国并没有成文宪法，因此称作“不成文宪法”。所谓的英国宪法，是对一整套包含基本规范和政治体制的成文法、习惯法和惯例的统称。英国宪法实际上是对英国实际的社会政治秩序的概括，是英国几百年政治流变的产物，并非一时制定的法律文件。英国著名宪法学家布莱斯曾评论道：“英国宪法是任何作者也作不出透彻说明的智慧产物，所具备的性质于几个世纪逐渐浸染而成。”,TEXT A Reading Comprehension,I. Translate the following phrases into Chinese or English. 1. be embodied in 2. be inconsistent with 3. straightforward 4. be dependent on 5. defer to 6. 迫使；强制 7. 重新洗牌 8. 配置；展开 9. 透明的；显然的 10. 长子身份；长子继承权,TEXT A Reading Comprehension,II. Match the words on the left with their meanings on the right. 1prerogative A. 遵照，符合 2sovereignty B. 努力的 3. conform to C. 主权 4. breach D. 违反 5. arduous E.有特权的 6. consent F. 使溶解；使分解 7. dissolve G. 辞职；退位 8. Abdication H. 同意,TEXT A Reading Comprehension,III. Discussion. How many principles are there of Constitution of United Kingdom? What are they? Can you give a definition of Constitution of United Kingdom?,TEXT A Notes,1. A constitutional convention is an informal and uncodified procedural agreement that is followed by the institutions of a state. In some states, notably those Commonwealth of Nations states that follow the Westminster system and whose political systems derive from British constitutional law, most government functions are guided by constitutional convention rather than by a formal written constitution. In these states, actual distribution of power may be markedly different from those the formal constitutional documents describes. In particular, the formal constitution often confers wide discretionary powers on the head of state that, in practice, are used only on the advice of the head of government. 2. The Royal Prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognised in the United Kingdom as the sole prerogative of the Sovereign. Many of the executive powers of British government, vested in a monarch, have been bestowed under the mandate of the Royal Prerogative.,TEXT A Notes,3. Albert Venn Dicey (4 February 1835 7 April 1922) was a British jurist and constitutional theorist, who wrote An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (1885), and younger brother of Edward Dicey. The principles it expounds are considered part of the uncodified British constitution. He was a graduate of Balliol College, Oxford, and became Vinerian Professor of English Law at Oxford and a leading constitutional scholar of his day. Dicey popularised the phrase rule of law, although its use goes back to the 17th century. 4. MacCormick v Lord Advocate (1953 SC 396) was a Scottish legal action in which John MacCormick (the Rector of the University of Glasgow) and Ian Hamilton (then part of the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association) contested the right of Queen Elizabeth II to style herself Elizabeth II within Scotland. They claimed it was a breach of the Act of Union 1707 between England and Scotland, since Queen Elizabeth I had been Queen of England but not of Scotland. (A historic example of a numeric distinction is found in King James I of England, who was King James VI of Scotland.) The action was brought against the Lord Advocate the most senior legal representative in Scotland.,TEXT A Notes,5. Entick v Carrington 1765 EWHC KB J98 is a leading case in English law establishing the civil liberties of individuals and limiting the scope of executive power. The case has also been influential in other common law jurisdictions and was an important motivation for the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It is famous for the dictum of Camden LJ: If it is law, it will be found in our books. If it not to be found there, it is not law. 6. The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords (the upper house). Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members (since 2010 General Election), who are known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected through the first-past-the-post system by electoral districts known as constituencies. They hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved (a maximum of five years after the preceding election).,TEXT A Notes,7. The House of Lords (commonly referred to as the Lords, officially referred to as the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Acts of Parliament, and as the House of Peers for some ceremonial purposes) is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the United Kingdoms national legislature. Parliament comprises the Sovereign, the House of Commons (which is the lower house of Parliament and referred to as the Commons), and the Lords. The House of Lords, like the House of Commons, assembles in the Palace of Westminster. 8. The European Court of Justice (officially the Court of Justice), is the highest court in the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union institution it is tasked with interpreting EU law and ensuring its equal application across all EU member states. The Court was established in 1952 and is based in Luxembourg. It is composed of one judge per member state currently 27 although it normally hears cases in panels of three, five or thirteen judges. The court has been led by President Vassilios Skouris since 2003.,TEXT A Notes,9. Flaminio Costa v ENEL 1964 ECR 585 (6/64) was a landmark decision of the European Court of Justice which established the supremacy of European Union law over the laws of its member states. 10. Thoburn v Sunderland City Council is an important English constitutional law case. It advances the theory that there exists a hierarchy of Acts of Parliament, whereby those Acts affecting the legal relationship between citizen and State or fundamental constitutional rights form a special and superior category known as constitutional statutes and can only be expressly repealed or abrogated by Parliament and therefore immune from the doctrine of implied repeal. Included within this category is the European Communities Act 1972.,TEXT A Notes,11. A Divisional Court, in relation to the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, means a court sitting with at least two judges. Matters heard by a Divisional Court include some criminal cases in the High Court (including appeals from magistrates courts and in extradition proceedings) as well as certain judicial review cases. Although often referred to in practice as the Divisional Court, a Divisional Court is in fact not a separate court or division of the High Court but essentially refers to the number of judges sitting. Usually a Divisional Court sits with two judges but occasionally the bench comprises three judges (as it did in the recent appeal concerning disclosure of MPs expenses, where the court comprised the President of the Queens Bench Division, a Lord Justice of Appeal and a High Court Judge). 12. The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its powers were devolved to the London boroughs and other entities.,TEXT A Notes,13. The German Bundesrat (literally Federal Council; pronounced bndsat) is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Lnder (federal states) of Germany at the federal level. It has its seat at the former Prussian House of Lords in Berlin. The Bundesrat participates in legislation, alongside of the Bundestag, the directly elected representation of the people of Germany, with laws affecting state competences and all constitutional changes requiring the consent of the body. Functioning similarly, it is often said to be an upper house such as the US Senate or the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, although the German constitution does not declare the Bundestag and Bundesrat to form houses of a bicameral parliament (the word Parliament does not even occur in the Constitution). Officially, it is generally referred to as a constitutional body alongside the Bundestag, the President, the Government and the Federal Constitutional Court.,TEXT A Notes,14. The Treaty of Union is the name given to the agreement that led to the creation of the united kingdom of Great Britain, the political union of the Kingdom of England (including Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland, which took effect on 1 May 1707. The details of the Treaty were agreed on 22 July 1706, and separate Acts of Union were then passed by the parliaments of England and Scotland to ratify the Treaty. 15. The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706, following negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the two countries. The Acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (previously separate states, with separate legislatures but with the same monarch) into a single, united kingdom named Great Britain.,16. The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The term Restoration may apply both to the actual event by which the monarchy was restored, and to the period immediately following the event. 17. Walter Bagehot was an English businessman, essayist, and journalist who wrote extensively about literature, government, and economic affairs.,18. Sir Edward Richard George Ted Heath, KG, MBE, PC (9 July 1916 17 July 2005) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (197074) and as Leader of the Conservative Party (196575). Born in Broadstairs, Kent, Heath studied at Oxford and served in the Second World War. He was first elected in the 1950 general election, for Bexley and was government Chief Whip during the 1950s. Entering the Cabinet as Minister of Labour in 1959, he was then Lord Privy Seal responsible for Macmillans unsuccessful EEC entry negotiations, then President of the Board of Trade. In 1965 Heath won the leadership of the Conservative Party against Reginald Maudling and Enoch Powell. The general election of 1966 saw the Labour government of Harold Wilson achieve a large increase in seats, however Heath remained Conservative leader.,TEXT A New Words and Expressions:,conform to 遵照，符合 Most people are willing to conform to the custom of society. 大多数人都愿意遵循社会习俗。 2. breach bri:t n. 违背，违反；缺口 vt. 违反，破坏；打破 His deliberate breach of French privacy laws has revoked the public. 对于他违背法国隐私法一事，法国人普遍感到十分不满。,TEXT A New Words and Expressions:,3. contradict ,kntrdikt vt. 反驳；否定；与矛盾；与抵触 vi. 反驳；否认；发生矛盾 The well bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves. 绅士与他人发生冲突，智者与自己发生冲突。 consent knsent vi. 同意；赞成；答应 n. 同意；（意见等的）一致；赞成 Law is an utterance determined by the common consent of the commonwealth. 法律是全体公民一致同意所决定意见之表达。,TEXT A New Words and Expressions:,5. Abdication ,bdikein n. 辞职；退位 The King signed the instrument of abdication. 国王签署了退位的正式文件。 Nominate nmineit, nmint, -neit vt. 推荐；提名；任命；指定 Companies at present nominate their own directors. 目前，各公司的董事由公司自己提名。,TEXT A New Words and Expressions:,7. Assent sent vi. 同意；赞成 n. 同意；赞成He gave his assent to my opinion. 他对我的意见表示同意。 8. Withhold wihuld, wi- vt. 保留，不给；抑制；隐瞒vi. 忍住；克制 The reason for the institute to withhold the prize, instead, would be to preserve its value. 委员会应取消和平奖的理由实际上是保存它的价值。,TEXT A New Words and Expressions:,accession ksen n. 增加；就职；到达vt. 登记入册 After the WTO accession, China will further improve its market climate. 加入世界贸易组织后，中国将进一步改善市场环境。 10. be inconsistent with与不一致；与相矛盾 Such behavior is inconsistent with her high-minded principles. 这样的行为与她情操高尚的原则是矛盾的。,TEXT A Assignment,Finish the rest of exercises of Text A Preview Text B,Text B The sources of the Constitution of United Kingdom,TEXT B Preview,虽然英国宪法不是具体法律文本，但实际其大部分内容还是以成文法形式出现，包括由议会通过的法例、法院的判例和国际公约等等。除此之外，英国宪法的法律渊源还包括英国议会惯例和国王特权。那么这些法律渊源是什么呢？,TEXT B Reading Comprehension,I. Translate the following phrases into Chinese or English. 1. Contemplate 2. controversial 3. be traced back to 4. have precedence over 5. 阻碍；妨碍 6. 诉讼；起诉 7. 对施加影响 8. 突出；强调 9. 铭记，珍藏； 10. 授权；托管,TEXT B Reading Comprehension,II. Match the words on the left with their meanings on the right. 1. unwarranted A. 提倡，主张，拥护 2. advocate B.无根据的；无保证的 3. compromise C. 批判；与断绝关系 4. repudiate D. 包含，吸收 5. incorporate E.妥协；危害 6. sacrosanct F. 撤销；废止 7. repeal H. 公告；宣布；宣告 8. Proclamation I. 神圣不可侵犯的 9. encroachment J. 生硬地；顽固地 10. stiffly K. 侵入，侵犯；侵蚀,III. Discussion. What is the Acts of Parliament? What is the nature of constitution of United Kingdom? What are the disputes over it?,TEXT B Notes,1. An Act of Parliamentis a statute (commonly called a law) enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used. In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow sense, as the formal description of a law passed in certain territories, and in a wider (generic) sense for primary legislation passed in any country. 2. George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6May 1910 through the First World War (19141918) until his death in 1936.,TEXT B Notes,3. Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarchs authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225. The 1297 version, with the long title (originally in Latin) The Great Charter of the Liberties of England, and of the Liberties of the Forest, still remains on the statute books of England and Wales. 4. Thoburn v Sunderland City Council is an important English constitutional law case. It advances the theory that there exists a hierarchy of Acts of Parliament, whereby those Acts affecting the legal relationship between citizen and State or fundamental constitutional rights form a special and superior category known as constitutional statutes and can only be expressly repealed or abrogated by Parliament and therefore immune from the doctrine of implied repeal. Included within this category is the European Communities Act 1972.,TEXT B Notes,5. The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706, following negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the two countries. The Acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (previously separate states, with separate legislatures but with the same monarch) into a single, united kingdom named Great Britain. 6. Obiter dictum (plural obiter dicta, often referred to simply as dicta or obiter) is Latin for a statement said in passing. An obiter dictum is a remark or observation made by a judge that, although included in the body of the courts opinion, does not form a necessary part of the courts decision. In a court opinion, obiter dicta include, but are not limited to, words introduced by way of illustration, or analogy or argument. Unlike the rationes decidendi, obiter dicta are not the subject of the judicial decision, even if they happen to be correct statements of law. Under the doctrine of stare decisis, statements constituting obiter dicta are therefore not binding, although in some jurisdictions, such as England and Wales, they can be strongly persuasive.,TEXT B Notes,7. The European Court of Justice (officially the Court of Justice), is the highest court in the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union institution it is tasked with interpreting EU law and ensuring its equal application across all EU member states. The Court was established in 1952 and is based in Luxembourg. It is composed of one judge per member state currently 27 although it normally hears cases in panels of three, five or thirteen judges. The court has been led by President Vassilios Skouris since 2003. 8. Leslie George Scarman, Baron Scarman, OBE, PC (29 July 1911 8 December 2004) was an English judge and barrister, who served as a Law Lord until his retirement in 1986.,TEXT B Notes,9. Joseph Philo Bradley (March 14, 1813 January 22, 1892) was an American jurist best known for his service on the United States Supreme Court, and on the Electoral Commission that decided the disputed 1876 presidential election. 10. A unitary state is a state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions (subnational units) exercise only powers that their central government chooses to delegate. Many states in the world have a unitary system of government.,TEXT B Notes,11. Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He resigned from all of these positions in June 2007. 12. James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1983, currently for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. He served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. Brown became Prime Minister in June 2007, after the resignation of Tony Blair and three days after becoming leader of the governing Labour Party. Immediately before this, he had served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007. His tenure ended in May 2010, when he resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Brown was one of only three people to serve in the Cabinet continuously from Labours victory in 1997 until its defeat in 2010, the others being Jack Straw and Alistair Darling.,13. The Governance of Britain was a Green Paper issued by the Government of Gordon Brown in 2007. The Green Paper looked at issues of constitutional reform including House of Lords reform and limiting the powers of the executive. 14. The Ponsonby Rule was a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom constitutional law that dictated that most international treaties had to be laid before parliament 21 days before ratification.,TEXT B New Words and Expressions:,Contemplate kntm,pleit vt. 沉思；注视；思忖；预期 It is thus useful to contemplate alternatives to that distressing outcome. 因此，相对于这一令人沮丧的结果，考虑一下其它措施是有益的。 2. controversial,kntrv:l adj. 有争议的；有争论的 The reason for this negative result is still controversial. 造成这个负面结果的原因仍有争议性。 3. repealripi:l vt. 废除；撤销；废止；放弃；否定 The Congress decided to repeal the law. 议会决定废除那项法令。,TEXT B New Words and Expressions:,4. sacrosanct skruskt adj. 神圣不可侵犯的；极神圣的 Ban proponents countered that the will of the people as expressed by the vote is sacrosanct in the state. 禁令的支持者则认为在投票中体现的人民意志是神圣的。 5. impede impi:d vt