The Declaration of the State Sovereignty of Ukraine

The 16^th of July 1990 is one of the most important historic dates in the history of Ukraine. On that day the Declaration of the State Sovereignty of Ukraine was adopted by its Supreme Soviet. Sovereignty means independence (or self-dependence), indivisibility of power in the Republic and equality of rights of our state in all international relations. The Declaration proclaims the people of Ukraine to be the main source of power in the Republic.

There are ten provisions of the Declaration. They state that Ukraine is independent in all spheres of internal and external life; that all the citizens of Ukraine are equal; that the people of Ukraine have right to be the master of all national wealth; that our state takes care of and protects the nature; our state solves the problems of national culture, education, moral and language independently. Ukraine has right to form its own military force. In accordance with the Declaration Ukraine is self-dependent economically. The Declaration proclaims Ukraine the subject of the international law. It favours to common security and peace in the world. Ukrainian State recognizes the advantage of the common human values. This Declaration is the most important document of our national renascence.

The State Structure of Great Britain

Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. Officially the head of the state is the Queen (or the King). However, the power of the Queen in Great Britain is not absolute. She acts only on the advice of the ministers and Parliament. There is no written constitution in Great Britain. The main principles of British legislation are expressed in other documents, like “Magna Charta”, “Habeas Corpus Act”, “Bill of Rights”, the Parliamentary Act which decided the position of the House of Lords, and the Judicature Act. British legislation does not provide written guarantees of individual political rights.

Parliament in Great Britain has existed since 1265 and is the eldest Parliament in the world. It consists of two Houses – the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords consists of 1000 peers who are not elected by the people. The House of Commons is a nation-wide representative body which is elected by the people at a general election, within 5 years of the last election. After the general election the Queen appoints the head of the government – the Prime Minister. As a rule the Prime Minister is the leader of the party that has won the election. The Prime Minister appoints the ministers to make up the government.

There are two main political parties in Great Britain: the Conservative party and the Labour party. The Conservative party came into being in the 19^th century as a result of the evolution of the Tory party. The Labour party was founded in 1900. Since 1906 it has borne the name of the Labour party. The Labour party won the election for the first time in 1945.

The Magna Carta

At the heart of the English system are two principles of government which are limited government and representative government. The idea that government was not all-powerful first appeared in the Magna Carta, or Great Charter, that King John signed in 1215 under the threat of civil war.

The Magna Carta established the principle of limited government, in which the power of the monarch, or government, was limited, not absolute. This document provided for protection against unjust punishment and the loss of life, liberty, and property except according to law. It stipulated that no citizen could be punished or kept in prison without a fair trial. Under the Magna Carta, the king agreed that certain taxes could not be levied without popular consent.

Although the Magna Carta was originally intended to protect aristocracy and not the ordinary citizens, it came in time to be regarded as a cornerstone of British liberties. It is one of the oldest written constitutional papers.