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The British Parliament
MY FUTURE PROFESSION
There are many interesting and useful professions. It is really not an easy task to make the right choice. I began to think about my future profession at the age of 15. I suppose, since childhood people should try to choose their way in life. If you want to be perfect in your trade, you need to pay more attention to special subjects, which will be useful to you in future.
It is very important for everybody to make a right choice (1) of profession. There are a lot of honorable (2) professions today. Still, it is difficult for young people to choose. I changed my planes several times about what want to be. I have decided yet that I want to be a lawyer. It is important to understand that law is not only necessary just because there are bad people in the world. If we were all as good as we ought to be, laws would still be necessary. If we never lied, never took anything that didn't belong to us, never omitted to do anything that we ought to do and never did anything that we ought not to do, we should still require a set of rules of behavior. In other words these are laws. They enable (3) us to live in any kind of a state. Every lawyer is required to protect the law. The legal profession is very popular and highly paid today. He is responsible to use laws to help people live safely (4) and comfortably. Still, it is not all an easy work to do. A lawyer gives you pieces of advice on legal problems or gives reasons for defending people in the court. Today a good lawyer is of great demand (5) in our country. I want to become a lawyer devoted to my cause (6).
The British Parliament
The British Parliament is the oldest in the world. It consists of the House of Lords and the House of Commons and the Queen as its head. The House of Commons plays the major role in law-making. It consists of Members of Parliament (called MPs for short). Each of them represents an area in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. MPs are elected either at a general election or at a by-election following the death or retirement. Parliamentary elections are held every 5 years and it is the Prime Minister who decides on the exact day of the election.
The British parliamentary system depends on political parties. The party which wins the majority of seats forms the government and its leader usually becomes Prime Minister.
In reality, the House of Commons is the one of three which has true power. The House of Commons is made up of six hundred and fifty elected members, it is presided over by the speaker, a member acceptable to the whole house.. Each session of the House of Commons lasts for 160-175 days.
The House of Lords has more than 1000 members, although only about 250 take an active part in the work in the house. Members of this Upper House are not elected, they sit there because of their rank, the chairman of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor. And he sits on a special seat, called "Woolsack" The members of the House of Lords debate the bill after it has been passed by the House of Commons. Some changes may be recommended and the agreement between the two houses is reached by negotiations.
3. Structure of the American and British Police
Policing in modern American society takes a number of different forms. On a national scale, there are several different types of police agencies, each with its own jurisdiction and special functions. The major types of police agencies can be divided into three major branches of government: federal, state, and local /city and county/ The federal law enforcement system includes such well known agencies as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Park Service, Border Patrol, U.S. Postal Inspector, and many more. Law enforcement on the slate level includes the state police or highway patrol, drug control agencies, investigative bureau, and others. At the level of local government the police agencies are the largest law enforcement group These agencies include municipal /or city/ police, county sheriff s offices, constables and village police departments.
Municipal police departments, which are the heart of the entire police system, have their own organizations with several different divisions, each with specific functions. In most departments there are four major divisions: 1. field operations /patrol, investigation, traffic, youth divisions, special operations, etc./; 2. administrative services / community relations, planning, etc./; 3. technical services / communications, records, etc./; and 4. inspectional services /internal affairs, intelligence, etc./.The most famous Federal Government Agency un the U.S. is the Federal Bureau of Investigation – the F.B.I. The fingerprint collection of the F.B.I., is now the largest in the world. A crime laboratory was established to make examinations for the F.B.I., and to serve as a scientific clearing – house for evidence and crime problems submitted by police forces throughout the country. This laboratory is the largest and the best equipped in the world.
Scotland Yard is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police in London. To most people, its name immediately brings to mind the picture of a detective - cool, collected, efficient, ready to track down any criminal with complete confidence that he will bring him to justice, or a helmeted police-constable - that familiar figure of the London scene and trusty helper of every traveler from overseas.
An interesting branch of Scotland Yard is the branch of Police Dogs, first used as an experiment in 1938. Now these dogs are an important part "of the Force. One dog, for example, can search a warehouse in ten minutes, whereas the same search would take six men an hour.
There are two other departments of Scotland Yard - the Witness Room (known as the Rogues' Gallery) where a photographic record of known or suspected criminals is kept, and the Museum, which contains murder relics, forgery exhibits and coining moulds.
The popular nickname of the London policeman "bobby" is a tribute to Sir Robert Peel, who introduced the police force in 1829, and whose Christian name attached itself to members of the force.
4. British system of Government, Monarch and his functions
The legislative branch is in the hands of the Queen and the Parliament (which is the House of Lords and the House of Commons).
The executive branch is represented by the Government — the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister. Her Majesty’s Government governs in the name of the Queen.
The legislative and the executive branches are combined by the Queen. In fact, the Parliament is controlled by the executive branch, as all the bills pass to the Parliament by the decision of the majority party.
Judicial system is represented by courts. So there is practically no separation of powers. The majority party has the real power in the country.
At the end of the election the Queen appoints the Prime Minister (PM). Normally the leader of the party who wins the election becomes the PM.
The office of the Prime Minister was introduced in 1720’s. The first PM was Robert Walpole.
The PM chooses about 20 Members of Parliament from his or her party to become the Cabinet of Ministers (or simply the Cabinet), they are called the Secretaries of State. The Ministers are almost always the members of the Commons, also a few are Lords. Cabinet meetings are held in private while the Parliament is sitting.
The British Parliament is of great significance in the political life of the country. It consists of two Houses (or Chambers): the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
5. British Judicial System
A feature common to all the systems of law in the UK is that there is no complete code. The sources of law include legislation (e.g. some 3,000 Acts of Parliament) and unwritten or 'common law'. Major distinctions are between the criminal law (wrongs against the community as a whole) and the civil law (rights, duties and obligations of individuals between themselves).
British court system includes 2 main kinds of courts: civil and criminal. Criminal courts are crown and high courts. The most common type of law court in England is the magistrates’ court, which deals with the less serious offences. There are about 700 magistrates’ court, which are open to the public and the media, and about 30000 magistrates, known as justices of the peace.
More serious criminal cases such as murder, drug trafficking, rape then go to the Crown Court, which has about 90 branches in different towns and cities. The judge in the Crown court acts as a controlling power; he decides questions of law, gives directions on procedure and evidence. The jury is the main element, consisting of 12 jurors. They decided questions of fact.
Civil cases such as divorce or bankruptcy cases are dealt with in County courts. Criminal appeals are heard by higher courts. For example, appeals from magistrates’ courts are heard in the Crown Court, unless they are appeals on points of law. The highest court of appeal in England is the House of Lords. Certain cases may be referred to the European Court of Justice in Luxemburg.
The legal system also includes juvenile courts which deal with offenders under 18 and coroners’ courts which deals with investigate violent, sudden or unnatural deaths. There are administrative tribunals which make quick, cheap and fair decisions with much less formality. Tribunals deal with professional standards, disputes between individuals, and disputes between individuals and government departments (for example, over taxation).