3. The European Parliament plays an increasingly important role in the EU legislative process. It is directly elected every five years by voters in all the member states and has 626 members (MEPs), including 87 from the United Kingdom. The EU budget cannot be agreed without the consent of the European Parliament. In other areas of legislation its role varies between consultation where it can influence but does not have the final say in the content of legislation; the cooperation and assent procedures, where its influence is greater; and codecision, where a proposal requires the agreement of both the Council and the European Parliament. The codecision procedure, where the Parliament's influence is greatest, was introduced by the Maastricht Treaty. The number of areas where it applies has been increased by the Treaty of Amsterdam.
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Text 18
The Federal Judiciary in the U.S.
1. From the Bill of Rights Americans receive guarantees of such basic rights as free speech, freedom of the press and religion, the right to petition the government for redress of grievances, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, freedom of assembly, the right to trial by jury and just compensation for property taken for the public good. Since the Bill of Rights was adopted, 16 other amendments have been added to the Constitution. But the Constitution is more than the total of written provisions and formal amendments. It is a document that has evolved and changed dramatically over 200 years, one that remains vital, alive and still controversial today.
2. Under the Constitution the third branch of government, in addition to the legislative (Congress) and executive (President) branches, is the federal judiciary. Its main instrument is the Supreme Court, which watches over the other two branches. It determines whether or not their laws and acts are in accordance with the Constitution.
3. Congress has the power to fix the number of judges sitting on the Court, but it cannot change the powers given to the Supreme Court by the Constitution itself. The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. They are nominated by the President but must be approved by the Senate.
4. Once approved, they hold office as Supreme Court Justices for life. A decision of the Supreme Court cannot be appealed to any other court. Neither the President nor Congress can change their decisions. In addition to the Supreme Court, Congress has established 11 federal courts of appeal and, below them, 91 federal district courts.
5. The Supreme Court has direct jurisdiction in only two kinds of cases: those involving foreign diplomats and those in which a state is a party. All other cases which reach the Court are appeals from lower courts. The Supreme Court chooses which of these it will hear. Most of the cases involve the interpretation of the Constitution.
6. The Supreme Court also has the «power of judicial review», that is, it has the right to declare laws and actions of the federal, state, and local governments unconstitutional. While not stated in the Constitution, this power was established over time.
7. The Constitution provides for three main branches of government which are separate and distinct from one another. The powers given to each are carefully balanced by the powers of the other two.
8. Each branch serves as a check on the others. This is to keep any branch from gaining too much power or from misusing its powers. The equal branches of government are connected and each is dependent on the other two.
9. In the U.S. when people think of «the government», they usually mean the entire system, that is, the Executive Branch and the President, Congress, and the courts. In fact and in practice, therefore, the President (i.e. ”the Administration”) is not as powerful as many people outside the U.S. seem to think he is. In comparison with other leaders in systems where the majority party forms «the government», he is much less so.
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Text 19
Justice and Law in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1. Although Britain is a unitary state, it does not have a single system of law. England and Wales, and Northern Ireland, have similar systems but the Scottish system is somewhat different. In general, however, the law has no complete code. Its sources include parliamentary legislation, European Community law and much 'common' law from courts' decisions and elsewhere. Criminal law is concerned with wrongs against the community as a whole, civil law with the rights and duties of individuals among themselves.
2. Keeping the peace and bringing offenders to trial are primarily the concern of the police whose action depends on common consent since the number of officers is small in relation to the population (roughly one to every 400 people). The police are not normally armed and their powers are carefully limited. Strict procedures govern the way complaints against the police are handled. Special efforts are being made to improve relations between the police and the community, especially in inner city areas!
3. The police service consists of independent local forces, usually linked with local government, and each responsible for its own area.
4. Most prosecutions are initiated by the police, but in Scotland the police make the preliminary investigations and a public prosecutor decides whether or not to prosecute. As soon as anyone is arrested he or she must be charged and brought to court with the minimum of delay. Unless the case is serious, the arrested person is usually granted bail if he or she cannot quickly be brought to court.
5. Compensation may be paid to victims of violent crime and people hurt while trying to prevent offences.
6. Judges are independent and non-political and, except for lay magistrates who try less serious criminal cases, are appointed from practicing barristers, advocates or solicitors (see below).
7. Criminal trials take place in open court although there are some restrictions, such as those to protect children. The more serious cases take place before a jury of ordinary, independent citizens who decide on guilt or innocence. People accused of crimes are presumed innocent until proved guilty, and every possible step is taken to deny the prosecution any advantage over the defence.
8. Cases involving children are heard in special juvenile courts, or, in Scotland, at informal children's hearings.
9. Other than in cases of murder, for which the sentence is life imprisonment, courts can choose the penalty most appropriate for a particular offender.
10. The legal profession has two branches: solicitors and barristers (advocates in Scotland). Solicitors undertake legal business for lay clients, while barristers advise on problems submitted through solicitors and present cases in the higher courts.
11. People with little money are given help to meet the costs of legal advice and court proceedings.
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Text 20
Development of English Law in Australia and New Zealand
1. In Australia and New Zealand there are two principal sources of law: case law and legislation. Other sources (custom, ecclesiastical law and mercantile law) are of importance only in specialized areas of law.
2. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries a body of law, developed in the centralized system of courts of the king and his Council, replaced the customary local laws which applied in the regions. This law was known as the common law and the courts as common law courts.
3. The making of law by legislation presupposes the existence of a parliament or legislative body. There was no such body by the thirteenth century but legislative instruments during Norman times were made by the king with the consent of his chief advisers. They were probably regarded as no different from the decisions of a judicial character which were also made by the king in person or in Council.
4. Legislation in parliamentary form was unknown until around the end of the thirteenth century. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, meetings of the king's Council, when it included representatives of the shires and boroughs, began to be known as “Parliament”.
5. Although representatives were not elected and it was regarded as comparatively unimportant, it did make statutes. The king also produced legislative documents in the form of ordinances and proclamations, and in some cases made proclamations under power delegated to him by parliament. The earliest example of a statute empowering such delegated legislation dates from 1385.
6. It was not until the second half of the seventeenth century that the distinction between the two principal law — making institutions, Parliament and the courts, became complete. At the same time, as a result of the constitutional battles of the period, Parliament's supremacy over the king and his courts was established.
7. The law which was received into Australia and New Zealand is sometimes referred to as the common law. The term «common law», as well as meaning the system of law which developed in the king's courts, has been extended to mean the system of law which developed in England. In this context it comprises both statute and case law. Those countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, which derive their legal systems from England are known as common law countries.
8. The courts of Australia and New Zealand have accepted, though not unanimously, that both countries were settled rather than acquired by cession or conquest (although the facts of history as they are now understood throw doubt upon this conclusion). As a result, under the common law, the colonists brought so much of the legislation and case law of England as was applicable to the social, political and institutional structures of Australia and New Zealand. Although it has been argued that the indigenous people of both countries retained certain rights at common law to continue to use their customary law among themselves and to continue to use and occupy the land, in general these rights have not been accepted by the courts of Australia and New Zealand. The courts and parliaments established in the colonies continued to develop this inherited body of law.
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Text 21
Voting and Government in Great Britain
Great Britain is a monarchy, but the Queen of Great Britain is not absolute, but constitutional. Her powers are limited by Parliament.
When once a party has won a majority of votes, it forms the Government, and may hold office for five years, unless it is defeated by the Opposition on some important Bill, or unless it decides to have another general election.
The Opposition criticizes or directly opposes the Bills introduced by the Government. If they succeed in defeating the Government on any important Bill, or carry a vote of “No confidence” in the Government, the latter resigns and the Queen calls upon the leader of the Opposition to form a new Government.
On election day, having decided which candidate is in their opinion the best one, the voters go to polling-station and record their votes by placing a cross against their candidate's name on a printed slip of paper, which they place in the ballot-box.
All day long people are going to the poll to record their votes until the evening, when the election officials count up the numbers of votes and announce the elected candidate.
Text 22
Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization)
What is an «International criminal»? It is not a new type of wrongdoer. The term is simply one of practical convenience. For example, if a man kills a woman in London and then escapes in the USA, he becomes an «International criminal». If the term were based on some legal concept, we should recognize the existence of such a thing as international crime.
At the beginning of the 20th century it was necessary that the international organization should be created to combat crime and to exchange ideas and methods between the police forces in the world. It came into being under the name of the International Criminal Police Commission in 1923 and worked until the beginning of World War II.
In 1946 the old members of the ICPC which had been disrupted by the war met in Belgium to revive the organization. In 1956 it was renamed the “International Criminal Police Organization-Interpol”.
The general aims of Interpol are defined in its Constitution. The combating of International criminals within the limits of laws existing in different countries is divided into three distinct activities: the exchange of police information, the identification of wanted or suspected by the police, the arrest of those who are wanted.
Text 23
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was a man of many identities: printer, writer, statesman, inventor, thinker, and revolutionary. He was the only American to have signed the four major documents which shaped the American republic: the Declaration of Independence (1776); the Treaty of Alliance with France which joined America and France together in the war against England (1778): the Treaty of Paris signed by England and America which ended the Revolutionary War (1783): and the Constitution of the United States (1788).
Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1706, the fifteenth child of a poor maker of candles and soap. His parents emigrated from England in 1683. After attempting to work for his brother's Boston newspaper, young Franklin moved to Philadelphia where he became one of the leading printers of pamphlets and money in colonial America.
When he wasn't busy at his business, he spent his free time trying to improve the quality of life in America. He is credited with having conducted important experiments on the nature of electricity. He designed a more efficient stove for heating houses (later called the Franklin stove). He co-founded the first lending library in the United States. He invented bifocal glasses and the lightning rod a device which lessens the impact of a building being hit by lightning.
One of Franklin's most famous publications was Poor Richard's Almanac, a calendar filled with useful information as well as Gatchy proverbs which have become a part of the American identity. “A penny saved is a penny earned”. “The sleeping fox catches no poultry”. “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. “There are no gains without pains”. “Lost time is never found again”. These sayings have been passed down from generation to generation by Americans.
During the Revolutionary War, Franklin played an important role as statesman to France. When he was not active in colonial politics, Franklin was in Paris making sure that France sided with America in its war for independence. He represented America's interests to the French, and as a result, the Treaty of Alliance was signed in 1778.
Americans best remember Benjamin Franklin as the foremost example of the self-made man. Born in poverty, Franklin became one of the most significant colonial Americans. He helped to shape the direction of American democracy and gave his energy and time to a young nation. Franklin best symbolizes for Americans what a person can be if he or she works hard and is determined and dedicated. Benjamin Franklin is America's first and most famous «rags to riches» story.
Text 24
Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
Jefferson had an abundance of talents and interests. Once, while travelling in Virginia, it was said, he stopped at a country inn and got into conversation with a stranger. The stranger mentioned some mechanical operations he had seen recently, and Jefferson's knowledge of the subject convinced him that Jefferson was an engineer. Then they got to talking about agriculture, and the stranger decided that Jefferson was a farmer. More talk led the stranger to believe that Jefferson was a lawyer; then a physician. Finally the topic of religion was broached, and the stranger concluded that Jefferson was a clergyman, though he wasn't sure of what denomination. The following day he asked the landlord the name of the tall man he had engaged in conversation the night before. “What”, said the landlord, “don't you know the Squire? That was Mr. Jefferson”. “Not President Jefferson?” exclaimed the stranger. “Yes”, nodded the landlord, “President Jefferson!”