British Monarchy

British Monarchy

1. British Monarchy: the role of the queen in modern society, the royal prerogatives and functions, the royal family, the main sources of income, principal ceremonials connected with royalty, royal residences, the perception of monarchy in society

The Monarchy is called the dignified part of the Constitution as opposed to the efficient part – the executive (the Government). Under the British Constitution the Monarch remains the head of state which effectively means that British people are not citizens but Her Majesty’s subjects.

The Royal Prerogatives – an action of the Government that gets its legitimacy from the crown (there are certain actions that the Government performs, they are ultimately approved by the Queen.) It is a fiction because the Queen is advised on most of her actions by her Government.

1: to appoint the PM at the end of the election (normally the leader of the party that has the majority in the HC)

2: to summon, prorogue (объявлять перерыв) and dissolve the Parliament.

3: enact legislation (вводить законопроекты); to give her Royal Assent to bills when they’ve been passed by both Houses.

4: declares war / makes peace

5: recognizes foreign states and governments

6: concludes treaties

7: annexes / cedes territories

8: head of judiciary = all the courts of the land are the Queen’s Courts – all the trials carried out in the Queen’s name (Regina vs. Jones)

9: Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces

10: temporal governor of the Church of England

11: makes formal appointments to the most important offices of the state in the Armed Forces and churches

12: confers peerages, knighthoods and other honours

13: formal approval to decisions of the Government is given at the meetings of the Privy Council

14: the Queen of 16 former colonies, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, represented by the governor. The Head of the Commonwealth (16 + some more other countries)

Constitutional role of the Queen (monarch) was first explicitly formulated by the 19 cent writer and journalist Walter Bagehot (the English Constitution 1867). Famous triple formula: the Queen has the right to be consulted, the right to encourage and the right to warn.

Every day studies cabinet papers, foreign office documents, receives a report of the parliamentary proceedings, regularly sees the PM in audience, in constant touch with foreign ambassadors and the Commonwealth representatives.

Important symbolic role: the unity of the nation, historical traditions and continuity. Defender of the Faith – only Anglicans can succeed to the throne. Spiritual head of state, the archbishop of Canterbury crowns the monarch.

2 archbishops (Canterbury and York) and 24 bishops, deans of Cathedrals (appointed by the Queen, advised by the PM). The Queen has ecclesiastic household – the College of Chaplains, the Chaplains and organists of the Chapels Royal at the Tower of London, St. James Palace and Hampton Court. The Royal Peculiars – not subjects to the jurisdiction of archbishops, they are monarch’s.

A number of special royal occasions, taking place regularly each year: the state opening of the Parliament – October, November (unless there has been general election). The Queen rides in a state carriage from Buckingham palace to the palace of Westminster (HL), reads her speech from the throne, wears a crown, speech prepared by the governor. The Remembrance day – in November, service in the White Hall for the dead of the 2WW, lays a wreath at the Cenotaph. June – goes to the Derby at Epsom, later in June at Windsor for the Royal Ascot. Second Saturday of June – official birthday. The Trooping of he Colour, Horse Guards Parade, birth honours are given. In summer 3 garden parties are given in the grounds of Buckingham palace – all people – each attended by ~ 8,000 people of different walks of life; tea, cakes, brass band.

The royal household – 350 courtiers, Private Secretary, ladies-in-waiting, the Mistress of the Robes, Ladies (Gentlemen) of the Bedchamber.

The Finance. More than ¾ of the Queen’s expenses is met by relevant government debts. £15,3mln – palaces (3 official residences – Buckingham palace in London, Holyrood palace in Edinburgh, Windsor castle). The Civil List – money provided by the Government and often by the Parliament, on a 10-year basis for the running of the Queen’s household. 2001-2011 – £7,9mln. Besides the Queen receives an income – the Duchy of Lancaster (the crown estate > 19,000 hectares) – annual income £7,3mln before tax.

The Duke of Edinburgh (husband), children (Princess Royal Ann, Prince Andrew, Edward) – receive annuities, but the Queen refunds all except the husband, he’s the only who receives strictly. The Queen pays for her children, they live at her expense. Prince Charles – the Heir to the Throne; Duchy of Cornwall – income, in 2003 ~ £10mln - ~ ¼ income tax. The Queen offered to pay tax on voluntary basis – decides how much to pay, on her private income, e.g. on part of the Civil List used for private purposes (e.g. banquet for friends). Others pay income tax on regular basis like ordinary citizens.

The Civil List is administrated by the so-called Keeper of the Privy Purse.

Private Royal residences. Sandringham (East Anglia), Balmoral (Scotland), Clarence House (Queen Mother resided), St. James’s Palace (Prince Charles, the minor royals), Kensington Palace (Diana). Grace and favour apartments, free of charge.

The Royal Family. The Queen’s husband – Philip the Duke of Edinburgh (1921) – famous for his quips. Princess Royal Ann, daughter. The Prince of Wales (1948), Heir to the Throne – Heir Apparent. Prince William (21 now) – Heir Presumptive, Prince Henry (1984). Prince Andrew (1960) – the Duke of York, Prince Edward (1964) – the Earl of Wessex.

The perception of monarchy in society – it has its symbolic role, unity, continuity, but young people are far from it, the general attitude – not interested, attracts tourists.

2. The national symbols of Britain and its constituent parts (the National flag, anthem, the national emblems, the Royal Beasts). The system of titles and honours

The National Flag – the Union Jack. Combination of three crosses – St. George’s cross – England, red cross on a white ground; the cross of St. Andrew for Scotland – white diagonal cross on a blue ground; the cross of St. Patrick for Ireland – red diagonal on a white ground. First introduced in 1606, had 2 crosses, union of England and Scotland (James I), 1801 – St. Patrick added.

National Emblems. Rose for England, thistle for Scotland, daffodil (leek) for Wales, shamrock (wild sorrel, red hand) for Ireland. Crown, scepter, sword of state, orb.

Monogram ER – Elizabeth Royal. In the centre of the emblem is situated a heraldic shield, divided into 4 parts. Left upper part & right lower part symbolize England (3 gold leopards on a red ground). Right upper part – Scottish emblem (a red lion on a gold ground). Left lower part – Irish emblem (yellow harp on a blue ground). Around the shield – garter. The shield is held by two Royal Beasts the Lion with the crown in the left, the Unicorn in the right. Under them a blue ribbon with words “Dieu et mon droit” (God & my right) – Richard I. In the background – rose (England), thistle (Scotland), trefoil (Ireland), leek (Wales).

The National Anthem – God Save the Queen (King). Adopted after the War with Napoleon.

The Royal Beasts. The Lion of England, the Unicorn of Scotland, the Red Dragon of Wales, the Grey Hound of Richmond, the White Horse of Hanover, the Griffin of Edward III, the Falcon of the Plantagenets.

The system of titles and honours. Twice a year (at the New Year and on the Queen’s official birthday – the Queen’s birthday honours) – solemn ceremony. 3000 honours are given annually – the majority the Order of the British Empire, most on PM’s advice, a few in the Queen’s personal gift.

The Order of the Garter (since Edward III 14th cent.) – 24 people at once, the Queen is a sovereign of the Order of the Garter, blue ribbon, Prince Charles, + foreign, e.g. the King of Spain. The Order of the Thistle – 16 knights, green ribbon. The Order of Merit (1902) – 24 people. Royal Victorian Order (1896) – who have directly served the Royal Family. The Order of the Bath (1725) – ceremonial ablutions, crimson ribbon. The Order of the British Empire: 5 degrees – member of the British Empire (MBE), officer (OBE), commander (CBE), knight commander (KBE) or dame commander (DBE), knight/dame grand cross (GBE). Lists are made by members of the public. Remain commoners, no special privileges, titles are not hereditary. Highest honour – peerage, historically hereditary, and since 1959 life peerage.

The 5 grades – Duke / Duchess (Your Grace), Marquis / Marchioness (My Lord), Earl / Countess (-“-), Viscount / Viscountess, Baron / Baroness. Connected with person’s occupation. On formal dresses – strawberry leaves, a coronet consisting of 8 strawberry leaves, 4 silver falls and 4 strawberry leaves for a marquis. Peers can disclaim their title, to get the right to sit in the HC – the title falls into abeyance, means title waits until this person dies and his son accepts it. The elder sons of peers have courtesy title, one degree lower than their fathers’. Duke can deprive his son inheritance, but no right to deprive of the title.

Elections in Britain

Members of the House of Commons (MPs) are elected by voters of 651 parliamentary constituencies, into which Britain is divided, each with electorate of about 60,000 voters. Each person over 18 has the right to vote, except prisoners, lords and the mentally ill. The voting is taken by a secret ballot. Each constituency is represented by one MP. The winner is the candidate who gets more votes than any other single candidate. The leader of the party with most seats usually becomes the PM and forms the Government, which can remain in power for up to five years. The second biggest party becomes the official Opposition, and its leader forms the Shadow Cabinet. The PM chooses the date of the next General Election. About a month before the election the PM meets a small group of close advisers to discuss the date. Then the PM formally asks the Queen to dissolve the Parliament – all MPs become unemployed, but government officers continue to function. . Voting takes place on Polling Day (usually a Thursday), the results are known by the next morning. The leader of the party that got the majority is invited by the Queen to form a government. The government is arranged in about 15 departments each with a minister as its head. The PM chooses about 20 MPs from his or her party to become the Cabinet of Ministers.

Members of the House of Lords are not elected. About 70 per cent of them are hereditary peers. The other 30 per cent are life peers, they are appointed by the Queen.

The proportional representation system – all political parties, small as well as large, are represented in the governing body according to the proportion of votes they receive.

Parties. 3 main parties – the Labour (Tony Blair), the Conservative (Ian Duncan Smith), the Liberal-Democrats (Charles Kennedy). Labour – red colour, Conservative – blue, Lib-Dem – orange. The party system since 17th cent.

The House of the Lords

The main function of the HL is to examine and revise bills from the Commons. It also acts as the final court of appeal. Bill send from the HC may be approved by the HL (if financial - automatically), they can amend the bill and send it back to the HC, cannot just reject, can delay for 13 months, after this it becomes a law (“kill a bill”), but the bill is no longer relevant.

Chamber: throne in the center with a canopy and a woolsack (source of Britain’s prosperity) where the Lord Chancellor sits (speaker of the HL). Governmental side – right of the speaker, opposition – left. Benches – red leather, green line separates government and opposition (for contrast) + cross benches. The speaker takes part in debates and votes. If the speaker decides to address as an ordinary – leaves the woolsack.

The House of Commons

Current membership: Labour 409 (a “comfortable” majority), Conservatives 163, Lib-Dem 53, total 659 (+ some smaller parties). Presided over by a speaker, has the right to maintain the order , elected at the beginning of each parliament session or when the previous retires or dies; doesn’t speak in debates, doesn’t vote, calls members to speak, puts the question (to vote).

The Chamber has the same arrangement – speaker’s chair (instead of the throne and the woolsack). Shadow Cabinet of the Opposition has the right to elaborate alternative policies .Frontbenchers, backbenchers, crossbenchers, the visitors’ gallery. The benches are green. Emphasize 2-party system. The process of debates is adversarial.

The main function is to make laws by passing Acts of Parliament, as well as to discuss current political issues.

Parliamentary procedure. Each session begins with the State Opening of the Parliament, if a part has the majority, the Queen reads the speech. A debate, a vote is taken. If no clear majority – hung parliament, dangerous situation, can lead to a parliament crisis. Most of the year – special routine. Proceedings are public, televised, press admitted, then publish the proceedings on the following day in Hansard (it was the first man who published). Business, order of business, parliamentary business; question time – 1 hour, MPs ask Ministers and other MPs questions, prepared 48 hours, by opposition – to reveal the weakness in the Government. The main debate: bills are introduced by the Government, Ministers mostly. The bill is introduced in a form of a motion, any Minister can move something; the question is open to debate. At the end of the debate the Speaker asks MPs if they accept a motion, sometimes the matter is decides on the spot. Approved by a majority, rare – a division is called: aye/no lobbies – vote by walking, a bell is rung, appoint tellers stay on a/n lobbies, each MP walk to the lobby and they are counted; have very little time. The bill goes through some stages: first reading – debated in detail, when is complicated, the House goes into committee, special committee remains (e.g. the Committee of Defense), others leave. 3rd time – passed or rejected, if passed –> the HL –> the Queen for the Royal Assent –> law. Bills are drafted by consultation with professional bodies. Sometimes the proposals take the form of white paper (states that the Government wants to know the attitude of public); if wants public discussion – green paper. The standing committees.

Guillotine motion (first introduced by Thatcher) – cuts down debate, fix the time is allocated. Every party has the party whips – like party policeman, press the members to vote for the Government, all party members vote for. They don’t play truant, if don’t come – reduction of the salary.

The Government and Cabinet

10, Downing Street – PM and the Cabinet. The White Hall – Her Majesty’s Government, governs in the name of the Queen. The Queen invites the leader of the party that has the majority to form a government. The Ministers are almost always the members of the Commons, also a few – Lords. It is based on a tradition, because in the Commons the Government is expected to explain its policies. In 19th century some Governments included members of different parties.

The main ministers and departments. ~100 Ministers, the central core is the Cabinet - ~20 senior Ministers invited by the PM, they are called the Secretaries of State. Minister – a junior member of the Cabinet. Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Foreign Secretary) – Jack Straw; Chancellor of the Exchequer (Minister of Finance) – Gordon Brown; Home Secretary (Home Department); Secretary for Defense, for Culture, Media and Sport, Education and Employment, Social Security, for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.

The main principles: 1 collective responsibility (as if they were one person) even if individuals do not agree. If a Minister has done something wrong, his colleagues have to disown him/her, will have to resign. 2 PM first among equals. In theory the 2nd is supposed to encourage balance and freedom for individual ministers, in practice it can give rise to tension. Insure leadership, allow for each minister some responsibility and freedom in their field.

Cabinet meetings are held in private, 1-2 a week, while the Parliament is sitting, or, less often, during parliamentary recess. The proceedings are confidential, secretaries take a special oath not to disclose. Because of the great amount of business, Secretaries have junior Ministers working under them – Ministers of State (Undersecretaries).

Civil Service – a political body which administers the decisions of the Ministers. Employed ~600,000 civil servants, expected to be politically impartial, serves any government, equally loyal to whatever party is in office; if they want to stand for the Parliament they have to resign first. Centre – the Cabinet Office, responsibilities – considerable, including the proper running of the whole Civil Service.

The Local Government

1995-1998 – the system was reformed.

Types. 45 Unitary authorities, mostly around the big cities. Now the system of local government has one-tier authorities, only unitary. 2-tier authorities: county councils (councillor), subdivided into district / borough councils (mayors). In England – 45 u. c., 34 c. c. and 238 d. / b. c. Local elections – for 4 years, councillors elect annually, serve on voluntary basis; the council doesn’t have executive powers, no administrator – basically self-regulating. The Queen’s represented by Lord Lieutenant of the county, attends on the Queen when she comes to the county, gives honours and grants on behalf of the crown.

Functions. Responsible for education, the maintenance of the main roads, social services, welfare, libraries, fire service, refuse disposal. District councils: housing, urban roads, car parks, refuse collection, recreation, cemeteries, environmental health. Unitary councils – combine all these functions. Parish councils – in rural.

Sources of financing. 1 the council tax – on the owner-occupier or tenant of a dwelling which is their sole or main residence. Calculate: depending on evaluation of the market price of the dwelling. Standard Band D, divide dwellings into groups. 2 non-domestic rate – on other kinds of property; 3 government grants; 4 income from fees and charges for services.

London. 32 borough councils. The London mayor – Ken Livingston. Greater London authority (GLA) covers the area of 32 boroughs and the City of London. The Corporation of London: the Lord-Mayor – nominated annually by the City Guilds, 24 Aldermen, 130 councillors.

Wales. Only unitary authorities (22). Besides – devolution – the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff for 4 years, 60 members and presiding officer. Can introduce secondary legislation, on the basis of acts passed by the Parliament in Westminster, cannot raise or lower income tax. The Welsh Cabinet – 1st Secretary, secretaries for minor matters (~ economic development, education, health, etc.). Have measure of independence nowadays.

Scotland. 29 unitary authorities, for 3 years, elected. + 3 island councils. Have greater independence than Wales. The Scottish Parliament, in Edinburgh, since 1999, 128 members. Has the right to introduce primary legislation and raise / lower income tax by up to 3p in the pound. The Scottish Executive – the government, for education, health, law and order, headed by the 1st Minister. Own notes – Scottish pound.

Northern Ireland: 26 district councils elected for 4 years.

The system of law and order

The Constitution is not codified in any formal document. The legislative branch – the HL, the HC, the Queen; the Cabinet and the PM – executive; they are combined by the Queen. In fact the Parliament is controlled by the executive, as all the bills pass to the Parliament by the majority party, also it is in the Parliament. Judicial system is represented by Courts, the HL is the main one. So there is practically no separation of powers. The majority party has the real power in the country. There is no constitutional court, the system provides for no checks and balances.

The legal system of England and Wales are separated of these of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The system of courts. Supreme authority – the HL (supreme courts). The Ultimate Court of Appeal – Law Lords. Under the HL – Supreme Court of Judicature (rather abstract, no single body), including the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice (responsible for civil cases), the Crown Court (for criminal cases). The High Court of Justice: 3 divisions – the Chancery Division (financial matters: bankruptcy, interpretation of transactions and wills), the Queen’s Bench Division (for commercial law: breach of contracts, serious personal injury), the Family Division (adoption, divorce, etc.). Claimant/plaintiff <–> defendant.

Civil cases: most are minor, settled in Small Claims Court (involving sum of money < £5,000), by a district judge, if he decides that you are right can award costs and usually compensation / damages. The more serious matter (e.g. car) – to the County court (circuit judge – travels to the place). You’d be represented by a solicitor or a barrister, if the case is serious (e.g. road accident and somebody was badly injured). If you are dissatisfied – to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division).

Criminal cases: Crown Prosecution Service, headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, works under the guidance of the Attorney-General. Crown Prosecution Service sends barristers and solicitors.

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