Text 2. Monarchy in britain

Great Britain is a monarchy, but the Queen of Britain is not absolute but constitutional. Her powers are limited by the Parliament. The Parliament is the supreme legislative authority in Britain. Queen's power is hereditory and not elective.

In practice the Monarch1 has no actual power: they say the Monarch reigns but does not rule. The Prime Minister is the virtual ruler of the country. The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the party that obtains a majority in the House of Commons. That party which has majority of seats in the House of Commons is called the Government and the other is the Opposition. The leader of the party in the opposition occupies a salaried office of the Leader of the Opposition. The Government may hold office for five years.

All the affairs of the state are conducted in the name of the Queen, but really the Prime Minister is responsible for every, measure submitted to Parliament.

The Queen summons, prorogues and dissolves Parliament. Normally she opens each session with a speech from the throne outlining the Government's programme. It is her duty to make appointments to all important state offices, including those of judges, officers in the armed forces, diplomats. She must, in theory at least, see all Cabinet documents. The Queen has the power to conclude treaties, to declare war and make peace.

The Queen has her own Privy Council. The Cabinet developed from this Council, which used to be body of advisers of English monarchs. As the system of Cabinet developed the Privy Council declined in importance. The Privy Council consists of members of the royal family, the archbishops, colonial governors and senior ministers. There are about 300 of them altogether. The committee of the Privy Council, the Judicial Committee, however, is the final court of appeal for the British — a Royal court.

Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne in 1952 after the death of her father, King George VI. She has four children: one daughter and 3 sons. The Queen's heir is Charles, Prince of Wales., He was born in 1948, educated in Cambridge, served in the Royal Navy5. Now he is involved in various aspects of public life, in particular industry and government.

The Royal family is the principal aristocratic house in Britain, closely connected with other members of the hereditory aristocracy and with big finance interests. The Queen is known to be among the wealthiest women in the world.

Text 1 the legal profession

The court system is dependent upon the legal profession to make it work. Although individuals can institute cases and defend them normally lawyers do this job for them. The legal profession is the normal source of judicial personnel for any court system.

England is almost unique in having two different kinds of lawyers, with separate jobs in the legal system? The two kinds of lawyers are solicitors and barristers . This division of the legal profession is due mainly to historical causes. Each branch has its own characteristic functions and a separate governing body.

The division has a number of significant impacts upon the judicial system. It is the main reason for the separation between civil and criminal courts. It also has a significant impact upon judicial appointments.

The traditional picture of the English lawyer is that the solicitor is the general practitioner, confined mainly to the office. The solicitor is the legal adviser of the public. Members of the public are able to call at a solicitor's office and seek his advice in a personal interview. The barrister is the specialist adviser much of whose time is taken up with court-room appearance. A barrister can only be consulted indirectly through a solicitor. Today however the lines of demarcation are blurred.

There is approximately one solicitor to every 1300 of the population, with considerable regional and local variations. There is a heavy concentration in commercial centres. The ratio for barristers is about one per every 10,000. Taking the legal profession as a whole (38,500), there is one practising lawyer per 1200 people. This compares with about one lawyer per 600 in the USA. But a lot of work in English solicitors' offices is undertaken by managing clerks, now called «legal executives »2, who are third type of lawyers. (Legal executives now have their own professional and examining body — «the Institute of Legal Executives»).