Foreword

It is now two years since I first encountered the Ukrainian Police Service. After replying to an appeal for help in providing English teaching resources I flew to Ukraine in 1996.

My first visit to this very welcoming country left me with many memories and, most important of all, lasting friendships. In 1997 I was pleased to be able to host a visit to Britain made by Ms. Afendikova and Sub-Colonel Korobkin of the Donetsk Police College. I hope that this visit provided some insight into how the police are trained in Great Britain.

Ms. Afendikova shares my hope that the exchange of views and information we have started can continue. For myself, I would like to see more students from Ukraine coming to England to study our cul-ture and legal systems. On a return visit to Donetsk in 1998 I learnt even more about the character and culture of Ukraine. The exchange of such information is crucial if we are to understand each other to the full.

This book is therefore extremely important in continuing and im­proving upon such contacts. It provides an inside knowledge of British culture and the legal system as it operates today in Britain.

The information upon which Ms. Afendikova bases her chapters is completely up to date with regard to the police service and has been checked for correctness by me. I am a serving Detective with the Metropolitan Police and have nineteen years police service.

I hope that by reading this book many students and citizens of Ukraine will be tempted to find out more about Britain and its legal systems. In that way the friendship between the lovely people of Ukraine and the people of Britain will be cemented.

Thank you for allowing me to write a few short words about this book.

Philip L. Wheeler MA. B.Ed. (Hons) Cert. Ed. MIPD. Dip. Pol. Mgt.

Detective Inspector

New Scotland Yard

May 1998.

Unit 1

The system of government

What is the Government? The Government is the management of the country. The Government makes the important decisions, e. g. about foreign policy, education, or health, but all these decisions have to be approved by Parliament. If Parliament thinks that a particular Government policy is against the public interest, then it can force the Government to change its mind.

State Organs of the United Kingdom include the monarchy, the legislative, executive and judicial organs of Government.

• The monarchy is the most ancient institution in the United Kingdom, with a continuous history stretching back over a thousand years. The monarchy is hereditary. Queen Elizabeth II, who succeeded to the throne in 1952, is the head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Crown and the temporal head of the established Church in England. Her Majesty’s Government governs in the name of the Queen who must act on the advice of her ministers.

• Parliament is the legislative organ of the United Kingdom.

What do we mean by Parliament? The Parliament of the United Kingdom consists of the Queen (hereditary monarch), the House of Lords (almost 1300 unelected members or peers) and the House of Commons (659 elected Members of Parliament). All three combine to carry out the work of Parliament.

The House of Lords is still a hereditary body. It consists of the Lords Temporal and the Lords Spiritual. The House of Lords is presided over by the Lord Chancellor who is the chairman of the House.

The House of Commons is an elected and representative body. Members are paid a salary and an allowance. The Speaker of of the House of Commons is elected by the members of the House immedi­ately after each new Parliament is formed.

The Government consists of approximately 100 members of the political party which has the majority of seats in the House of Com­mons.

What does Parliament do? Making laws (legislations).

The Queen, Lords and Commons all have to agree to any new law which is passed.

Examining the work of Government. Both the Lords and the Commons examine the work of the Government on behalf of the public. They do this by asking the Government questions, by debate and through committees of inquiry.

Controlling finance. Only the House of Commons can give per­mission for the Government to collect taxes. The House of Com­mons decides what taxes shall be collected and how the money shall be spent.

Protecting the individual. Members of Parliament (Members of the House of Commons) protect the rights of the individual. Each Member of Parliament represents the people of a certain area. Bri­tain is divided into 659 of these areas, known as constituencies.

Hearing appeals. The House of Lords is a Court of Justice, the highest Court of Appeal in Britain.

• Executive. The Government consists of the ministers appointed by the Crown on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Prime minister is appointed directly by the Crown and is the leader of the political party which has a majority of seats in the House of Com­mons. The Prime Minister is the head of the Government, he is al­ways a Member of the House of Commons. He consults and advises the Monarch on government business, supervises and coordinates the work of the various ministers and departments in the House of Commons. He also makes recommendations to the Monarch on many important public appointments.

The most senior members of the Government are known as the Cabinet. The Cabinet is the nucleus of the Government. All major decisions of the Government are made by the Cabinet, and therefore it is the Cabinet which forms Government policy.

Who chooses the Cabinet? Members of the Cabinet are chosen by the Prime Minister. The majority of the members of Mr Blair’s Cabinet are drawn from the House of Commons. Nevertheless there are always a few members from the House of Lords. All the mem­bers of Mr Blair’s Cabinet belong to the Labour Party. The Labour

Party gained the right to form a Government by winning the general election in May 1997. Mr Blair, the leader of the Labour Party, be­came Prime Minister. He selected a team of Ministers to serve in his Government. A Cabinet must be large enough to include senior mimi­nisters. There is no limit on the size of the Cabinet but the number of salaried Secretaries of state is limited to 21. Cabinet meetings are usually held on a Thursday morning in the Cabinet room at 10 Down­ing Street.

What happens when there is a change in Government?

The system of Government Sovereign The Qeen is head of the Government She makes laws with Parliament and she is the head of the courts Government Parliament Cabinet House of Lords House of Commons Chairmen: Prime Minister Chairman: Lord Chancellor Chairman: Speaker Ministers Lords MPs (659 MPs) Treasury Foreign Office Temporal Home Office Law Lords (20 lords) Spiritual (24 bishops) etc.

During the last 27 years there have been eight general elections, l our of these resulted in a change of Government.

1970 Conservatives took over from Labour.

1974 Labour took over from Conservatives.

1979 Conservatives took over from Labour.

1997 Labour took over from Conservatives.

On each of these occasions the ministers in each Department changed. Ministers of the winning party took over from those of the loosing party.

The two main parties have very different ideas - for example, about education, housing and industry.

Departments and ministers are run by civil servants, who are permanent officials. Even if the Government changes after an elec­tion, the same civil servants are employed.,

The United Kingdom has no Ministry of Justice. Responsibility for the administration of the judicial system in England and Wales is di­vided between the courts themselves, the Lord Chancellor, and the Home Secretary. The Lord Chancellor is responsible for the compo­sition of the courts, civil law, parts of criminal procedure and law reform in general; the Home Secretary is responsible for the preven­tion of criminal offences, trial and treatment of offenders and for the prison service.

WORDS AND PHRASES

Government [′gΛvnmənt] - уряд

Parliament [pa: ləmənt] – парламент

legislative [,led3is'leitiv] - законодавчий орган

executive [ig′zekjutiv] - виконавча влада

judicial [d3u:′di∫l] – судовий

hereditary [hi′reditəri] - спадкоємний

to succeed [sək′si:d] - успадковувати

to preside [pri′zaid] - головувати

Lord Chancellor - Лорд-канцлер (глава судового відомства та верховний судця Англії,

глава Палати лордів)

the House of Commons - Палата общин (громад)

the House of Lords - Палата лордів

peer [ріə] - пер, лорд

legislation [,led3is′lei∫n] – законодавство

tax [tæks] - податок

to protect [prə′tekt] - захистити

right [rait] - право

constituency [kən′stitjuənsi] - виборчий округ

appeal [ə′pi:l] - апеляційна скарга

the Labour Party - Лейбористська партія

general election [,d3еnrə1 i′lek∫ən] - загальні вибори

civil servant-цивільний службовець

court [ko:t] - суд

civil law [′sivl,o:] - цивільне право

Horne Secretary - міністр внутрішніх справ

prevention [pri′ven∫ən] - запобігання, попередження

criminal offences - карні злочини

trial [′traiəl] - судовий розгляд, судовий процес

treatment [′tri:tmənt] - поводження (із злочинцями)

offender [ə′fəndə] - злочинець

prison [′prizn] -тюрма, в’язниця

Treasury [trе3əri] - казна

Foreign office - Міністерство закордонних справ

Home office - Міністерство внутрішніх справ

spiritual [′spiritjuəl]-духовний

bishop [′bi∫əр] - єпископ

temporal [′tempərəl] - світські (члени Палати лордів)