ENGLISH-IN-LAW. Textbook

Text 8

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF PARLIAMENT

(PART B)

By the 14th century a distinction had emerged between statutes of Parliament and ordinances published by the king and council. Statutes were laws based on petitions from individuals or groups,andtheywereagreedtobythekingandParliament.Because laws from Parliament were entered on the statute roll, they soon claimed a high degree of authority. Gradually Parliament became critical of laws passed as ordinances and began to claim the right to be consulted about all legislation. In the mid-16th century, in the time of Henry VI, bills no longer needed to originate as private petitions. They could be public bills introduced by a member of Parliament.

Discussion of bills and petitions usually took place in the absence of the king. It became customary for the nobles and higher clergy to meet in one chamber, or house, while knights and town leaders (the burgesses) met in another. These separate meetings were the origin of the two houses of Parliament, the Lords and the Commons. Strictly speaking there were three houses because the king and council were also considered a part of Parliament.

As the separation between Lords and Commons became fixed, the king was forced to select most of his councillors from among members of the two houses. Thus, when the king had made his opening speech (still the prerogative of the monarch), he and any councillors who were not members of Parliament departed. The Commons would then meet by itself in the chapter house of Westminster Abbey, while the Lords met in the Palace of

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Westminster (the official name of today’s Parliament building in the City of Westminster, Greater London).

The position of Parliament was greatly enhanced during the reign of the Tudor monarchs from Henry VII to Elizabeth I. All the changes in English society achieved by Henry VIII were carried out by acts of Parliament, Law by royal ordinance was still possible, but Henry was too shrewd a politician not to use Parliament to indicate popular approval. During his reign, in 1547, publication of the daily proceedings of the House of Commons began. The journal of the House of Lords had been published since 1509.

Henry VIII began the practice of keeping Parliament in session for years but sending the members home for an occasional recess. By doing this he did not have to dissolve Parliament, which would have required new elections of knights and burgesses (this would not have required new elections of the Lords, because the Lords were hereditary). By simply interrupting sessions, Henry was able to keep the same Parliamentary membership for years. This was an advantage to him because he knew the members and could rely on their support.

USEFUL TERMS AND NOTIONS:

Greater London – an administrative-territorial unit, consists of London and parts of such counties as Middlesex, Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire

Chapter house – chamber or building, often reached through the cloister, in which the chapter, or heads of monastic bodies, assemble to transact business. Chapter houses occur in various forms. In England the chapter houses of the medieval cathedrals were originally rectangular in plan (e.g., Canterbury), but the most common design is a polygon with a central pillar to support a vaulted ceiling. Particularly fine octagonal examples can be seen at Salisbury or Westminster. There are oblong chapter houses at Canterbury and Exeter and a circular one at Worcester. English chapter houses are often provided with a vestibule (e.g., Lincoln and Salisbury). On the continent of Europe, chapter houses are more rare than in England and are almost always rectangular. Chapter house of the royal Chapel of St. Stephen’s (c. 1360) was apparently, for the period, outstandingly Italianate. (Surviving fragments are in the British Museum, London.) Subsequently,

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however, in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey (probably executed c. 1370) there was strong Germanic influence, which has been tentatively compared with the work of Master Bertram at Hamburg.

knight – 1. Hist. In the Middle Ages, a person of noble birth who, having been trained in arms and chivalry, was bound to follow an earl, baron or other superior lord into battle 2. In modern Britain, a man upon whom the monarch has bestowed an honorary dignity (knighthood) as a reward for personal merit of some kind. The status of knighthood no longer relates to birth or possessions and does not involve military service.

burgess – Hist. 1. an inhabitant or freeman of a borough or a town. 2. a magistrate of a borough 3. a person entitled to vote at elections 4. a representative of a borough or town in Parliament.

TASK 1 a) ACTIVE VOCABULARY. Read and translate the text. Consult a dictionary to find the meanings of the following words and word combinations:

b) Complete sentences with the following words and phrases: chamber, claim their rights, dissolve Parliament, emerge, enhance, hereditary, indicate, introduce a bill, proceedings, public bill, rely,

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strictly speaking, support, (there is one word/word combination you don’t need):

1.One of the major questions is who will … as a possible successor to Mr Smith?

2.Don’t … on translations. Try not to equate a new word with its equivalent in your native language.

3.A … … is a proposal for new legislation that would affect public policy.

4.But it is incredibly complex and it will make it harder for people to … … … .

5.The practice of that may date as far back as 1558, when MPs used to … ... that was not included in the Royal Address regularly.

6.He has also taken account of the points in recent judicial review … in the High Court.

7.… … , there is no further investment required.

8.A bill to … … would have to be put to three parliamentary votes.

9.During the trial, Taylor said he had relied on the advice of Lord Colwyn, the long-standing … peer and deputy speaker.

10.Orderly classrooms … the rights of all children to learn.

11.Craters on a planet’s surface … its age.

12.Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has set out plans for a 300-member second …, 80% of which could be elected.

TASK 2 Consult a reference book and find out the difference between ordinance (n) and statute (n). What body/ bodies deal or dealt with ordinances? And which one with statutes?

TASK 3 Find out possible collocations with the following words and phrases. Make up your own sentences with them to describe a legal proceeding:

to enhance, to require, to become critical (of smth.), separate adj., a proceeding, the practice (of smth.).

TASK 4 Check how well you know the text:

1.When did a distinction between statutes of Parliament and ordinances of the king and council emerge?

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2.Give a definition of statutes according to the text. How were they formed and passed?

3.Why did laws from Parliament claim a high degree of authority?

4.Did Parliament want to control over all legislation?

5.Outline the way for bills to originate in the mid-16th century.

6.Did the king take part in discussions of bills and petitions?

7.Why can we speak about three houses? Prove your point of view using the text.

8.Why was the king forced to select his councillors from among the members of two houses?

9.Where did the Commons meet? What was the place of the Lords’ meetings? Was the king present at these sittings?

10.How did the position of Parliament change during the reign of the Tudor monarchs?

11.When did publication of the daily proceedings at the House of Commons and of the journal of the House of Lords begin?

12.How long did sessions last under Henry VIII? Why was it favourable for the monarch?

TASK 5 a) Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right:

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b) Find synonyms for “to indicate popular approval”, “to become critical of something”.

TASK 6 a) Study the following collocations:

give/grant somebody’s approval, receive/obtain approval, with/ without somebody’s approval, submit/send something for approval, subject to somebody’s approval (=if it is accepted by someone), pending somebody’s approval (=waiting to be accepted by someone), somebody gives their seal of approval (=an important person, organisation, etc. says officially that they agree with something and will allow it), formal/official approval, popular approval, Congressional/parliamentary, etc. approval; and Parliament’s consent, Royal Assent

b) Comment on the following:

“Wisdom is the chief and leader: next follows temperance; and from the union of these two with courage springs justice”. (Plato, ‘The Laws’ – Book I, 631)

c) Answer the questions:

Have you ever had to receive an official approval? Have you ever had to give your approval?

Have you ever done something without your relative’s approval? What body or officer can grant its/his approval?

What documents should be submitted for official approval? What must be sent to both houses of Parliament for approval? What must receive the Royal Assent?

What bodies can give their seal of approval?

Do you know any law which has recently obtained popular approval?

TASK 7 a) Match the words on the left with the words on the right according to the text and make up your own sentences with them to describe the work of the European Parliament:

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b) Define the following collocations:

to claim rights, property, compensation, damages, an allowance, benefit, a high degree of authority, responsibility/credit for something, to claim against/from the company for something.

What other word combinations with ‘claim’ do you know? Use these collocations to describe some legal cases.

c) Study the following collocations with ‘interrupt’ and continue the list. Make up your own sentences with the collocations to describe any possible situations:

to interrupt a session, to interrupt a speaker, to interrupt a conversation, to interrupt a discussion, to interrupt negotiations, to interrupt a trip, to interrupt a line, to interrupt surface, to interrupt view.

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TASK 9 a) What part of speech do the words absence, ordinance belong to? What suffix is used in these words?

b)What prefix is used in the word enhance? Study the collocations: enabling legislation, to enact a bill, to encroach upon/on one’s rights/prerogatives, to enforce a law, to encumber with mortgage, to enclose a stamped addressed envelope, please find enclosed my CV/files.

c)Find out collocations with the following words and make up your own sentences with them to speak on topical issues of our society:

to endanger, to empower, to encourage, to endeavour, to embrace, to emphasise, to embody, to enrich, to engage, to be engaged, to embargo/an embargo.

d)Find the word possible in the text. What part of speech does it belong to? What suffix is used in this word? What meaning does this suffix have? Derive similar words from the verbs read, change, print, suit.

e)What prefix is the word dissolve formed with? What is the meaning of this prefix? What body can be dissolved?

f)What part of speech does the word politician belong to? Do you know some other nouns with the same suffix? Outline the difference between ‘policy’ and ‘politics’ (use the information of previous texts).

TASK 10 Use the prefixes dis-, il-, im-, in-, ir-, non-, unto make new words. Make up your own sentences and discuss advantages and disadvantages to lower legal age for marriage:

logical, obey, officially, possible, practical, relevant, responsible, security, smoker, willingness

TASK 11 Find single words to replace the expressions in italics:

1.People frequently interpret this body language in the wrong way, approach the dog inappropriately and are bitten.

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2.“It was totally disgraceful – everyone wants to enjoy the football, but there’s obviously a small element who want to behave badly,” he said.

3.A German author reckons Pope Benedict XVI doesn’t approve of Harry Potter.

4.So why is it that on Christmas Day so many people feel deeply not at all satisfied?

5.You’ve made so many corrections, you should write the sentence again with the help of the class, using the correct punctuation.

TASK 12 Use an appropriate prefix (in-, un-, de-, dis-, mis-, re-) to complete the words:

1.This organisation has consistently been calling for the government to deal with the …match between supply and demand for university places.

2.Plantation workers were …enfranchised and many …prived of citizenship.

3.The trial was moved from the scene of shooting, because it seemed impossible to find …biased jurors there.

4.Mr. Jones is seeking …-election.

5.These animals are …sensitive to pain.

6.Attempts to ...lead the academic community with fake or …accurate results are extremely rare.

7.Appearances are …ceptive.

8.I’m afraid, …missal of appeal will follow.

9.Where is the difference between …eatable and …edible food?

10.Do the words ‘…information’ and ‘…information’ mean the same?

TASK 13 Use a dictionary to find out what these phrases mean. Use these phrases to make up a story about one of the accused:

a)to feel disillusioned

b)a misguided person

c)honest mistake

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TASK 14 Insert the missing prepositions if necessary according to the text and make up your own sentences with the following words and phrases to speak on one of the historical films:

to agree … this decision, … the time of Henry VIII, to be based … the book, claim … the right, become critical … his work, … Henry VII … Elizabeth I, to select the best film … this set of DVDs, to rely … your friend, to consult a teacher … our home task

TASK 15 a) Retell the text:

JS Mill’s ‘Harm to Others’ Principle

John Stuart Mill (English philosopher, born 1806), in ‘On Liberty’ (1859) held that liberalism seeks to promote as much individual liberty as is compatible with everyone else having the same liberty, the state should not use the criminal law to prevent immoral conduct that does not cause harm or offence to others.

Mill stated that “The only time law can be used to prevent someone doing an act, is to prevent harm to others”. The problem is he didn’t say what harm is, and he didn’t say who others were. One could ask, “Should you use law to prevent ‘harm’ in all cases?”

Take for example adultery and suicide, both would cause ‘harm’ to others. However, the law will say nothing about such behaviour.

b) Answer the following questions and discuss your answers in groups :

“Liberalism seeks to promote as much individual liberty as is compatible with everyone else having the same liberty”. What does this statement mean? Is it possible to promote a great deal of individual liberty and at the same time not to interfere with other people’s liberty? Why (Why not)?

Mills states that the state should not use the criminal law to prevent immoral conduct that does not cause harm or offence to others. Do you agree with this approach? What are the ways to learn if one’s immoral conduct causes harm to others?

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