How did the UK parliament come into beingWord文档格式.docx

How did the UK parliament come into beingWord文档格式.docx

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three-tier"

model.MostcountriesinEuropeandtheCommonwealthhavesimilarlyorganisedparliamentswithalargelyceremonialheadofstatewhoformallyopensandclosesparliament,alargeelectedlowerhouseandasmaller,upperhouse.

TheParliamentofGreatBritainwasformedin1707bytheActsofUnionthatreplacedtheformerparliamentsofEnglandandScotland.Afurtherunionin1801unitedtheParliamentofGreatBritainandtheParliamentofIrelandintoaParliamentoftheUnitedKingdom.

IntheUnitedKingdom,ParliamentconsistsoftheHouseofCommons,theHouseofLords,andtheMonarch.TheHouseofCommonsiscomposedof650memberswhoaredirectlyelectedbyBritishandNorthernIrishcitizenstorepresentsingle-memberconstituencies.TheleaderofaPartythatwinsmorethanhalftheseatsorlessthanhalfbutcancountonsupportofsmallerpartiestoachieveenoughsupporttopasslawisinvitedbytheQueentoformagovernment.LegallytheQueenistheheadofgovernmentandnobusinessinParliamentcanbetakenwithoutherauthority.TheHouseofLordsisabodyoflong-serving,unelectedmembers:

92ofwhominherittheirtitles（andofwhom90areelectedinternallybymembersoftheHousetolifetimeseats）,26bishopswhiletheyremaininoffice,and588ofwhomhavebeenappointedtolifetimeseats.

LegislationcanoriginatefromeithertheLordsortheCommons.Itisvotedoninseveraldistinctstages,calledreadings,ineachhouse.Firstreadingismerelyaformality.Secondreadingiswherethebillasawholeisconsidered.Thirdreadingisdetailedconsiderationofclausesofthebill.

Inadditiontothethreereadingsabillalsogoesthroughacommitteestagewhereitisconsideredingreatdetail.Oncethebillhasbeenpassedbyonehouseitgoestotheotherandessentiallyrepeatstheprocess.Ifafterthetwosetsofreadingstherearedisagreementsbetweentheversionsthatthetwohousespasseditisreturnedtothefirsthouseforconsiderationoftheamendmentsmadebythesecond.IfitpassesthroughtheamendmentstageRoyalAssentisgrantedandthebillbecomeslawasanActofParliament.

TheHouseofLordsisthelesspowerfulofthetwohousesasaresultoftheParliamentActs1911and1949.TheseActsremovedthevetopoweroftheLordsoveragreatdealoflegislation.IfabilliscertifiedbytheSpeakeroftheHouseofCommonsasamoneybill（i.e.actsraisingtaxesandsimilar）thentheLordscanonlyblockitforamonth.IfanordinarybilloriginatesintheCommonstheLordscanonlyblockitforamaximumofonesessionofParliament.TheexceptionstothisrulearethingslikebillstoprolongthelifeofaParliamentbeyondfiveyears.

InadditiontofunctioningasthesecondchamberofParliament,theHouseofLordswasalsothefinalcourtofappealformuchofthelawoftheUnitedKingdom—acombinationofjudicialandlegislativefunctionthatrecallsitsoriginintheCuriaRegis.ThischangedinOctober2009whentheSupremeCourtoftheUnitedKingdomopenedandacquiredtheformerjurisdictionoftheHouseofLords.

Since1998,therehasbeenaScottishParliamentinEdinburgh,whichisanational,unicamerallegislatureforScotland.However,theScottishParliamentdoesnothavecompletepoweroverScottishPolitics,asitonlyholdsthepowerswhichweredevolvedtoitbyWestminsterin1997.Itcannotlegislateondefenceissues,currency,ornationaltaxation（e.g.VAT,orIncomeTax）.

OriginsofParliament-King'

scouncils

TheoriginsofParliamentgobacktothe12thcentury,whenKing'

scouncilswereheldinvolvingbaronsandarchbishops.Theydiscussedpoliticsandwereinvolvedintaxationandjudgments.

Overtime,thesecouncilstookamoreformalroleandsawknightsrepresentingeachcounty.ThiswasthebeginningofaCommonselementinParliament.Theword'

Parliament'

wasusedtodescribethesemeetingsbytheearly13thcentury.

TwoHouses

Bythe14thcenturytwodistinctHouses,theCommonsandtheLords,haddeveloped.TheCommonsinvolvedrepresentativesfromcounties,townsandcities,theLordsalreadyconsistedofmembersofthenobilityandclergy.

Parliamentandthemonarchy

Duringthe15thcentury,KingHenryVputtheCommonsonanequalfootingwiththeLords.

The17thcenturysawcivilwarbreakoutbetweensupportersofParliamentandthemonarchy.KingCharlesIwasexecutedon30January1649andaCommonwealthledbyOliverCromwellestablished.Duringtheyears1649to1660aseriesofParliamentswereelectedusingdifferentconstitutionalrules.

In1660themonarchywasrestoredunderKingCharlesII.

TheBillofRightswasagreedin1689.ThisestablishedParliament'

sauthorityoverthemonarch:

Parliamentwouldberesponsibleforpassingorrepealingalllaws.

Parliamentandthehomenations

The1707ActofUnionbetweenEnglandandScotlandsawthenations'

individualParliamentsreplacedbythenewParliamentofGreatBritain.

Afterthe1800ActofUnionwithIreland,theDublinParliamentwasabolishedandIrishMPsandLordswererepresentedintheWestminsterParliament.

ParliamentActs-1911and1949

EnglandhadatraditionofabodyofmenwhowouldassistandadvisetheKingonimportantmatters.UndertheAnglo-SaxonKings,therewasanadvisorycouncil,theWitenagemot（"

meetingofwisemen"

）.AspartoftheNormanConquestofEngland,thenewKing,WilliamI,didawaywiththeWitenagemot,replacingitwithaCuriaRegis（"

King'

sCouncil"

）.MembershipoftheCuriawaslargelyrestrictedtothetenantsinchief,thefewnobleswho"

rented"

greatestatesdirectlyfromtheKing,alongwithcertainseniorecclesiastics.

MosthistoriansdatetheemergenceofaparliamentwithsomedegreeofpowertowhichthethronehadtodefernolaterthantheruleofEdwardI.（Kaeuper,RichardW.,WarJusticeandPublicOrder:

EnglandandFranceintheLaterMiddleAges,OxfordU.Press,1988.）Likepreviouskings,Edwardcalledleadingnoblesandchurchleaderstodiscussgovernmentmatters,especiallyfinance.Ameetingin1295becameknownastheModelParliamentbecauseitsetthepatternforlaterParliaments.ThesignificantdifferencebetweentheModelParliamentandtheearlierCuriaRegiswastheadditionoftheCommons,thatis,electedrepresentativesofrurallandownersandoftownsmen.In1307,EdwardIagreednottocollectcertaintaxeswithoutconsentoftherealm.Healsoenlargedthecourtsystem.

WilliamofNormandybroughttoEnglandthefeudalsystemofhisnativeNormandy,andsoughttheadviceofthecuriaregis,beforemakinglaws.ThisbodyistheoriginfromwhichtheParliament,thehighercourtsoflaw,thePrivyCouncilandCabinethavesprung.Ofthese,thelegislatureisformallytheHighCourtofParliament;

judgessitintheSupremeCourtofJudicature;

andonlytheexecutivegovernmentisnolongerconductedinaroyalcourt.

Thetenants-in-chiefoftenstruggledwiththeirspiritualcounterpartsandwiththeKingforpower.In1215,theysecuredfromJohntheMagnaCarta,whichestablishedthattheKingmaynotlevyorcollectanytaxes（exceptthefeudaltaxestowhichtheywerehithertoaccustomed）,savewiththeconsentofacouncil.Itwasalsoestablishedthatthemostimportanttenants-in-chiefandecclesiasticsbesummonedtothecouncilbypersonalwritsfromtheSovereign,andthatallothersbesummonedtothecouncilbygeneralwritsfromthesheriffsoftheircounties.ModerngovernmenthasitsoriginsintheCuriaRegis;

parliamentdescendsfromtheGreatCouncillaterknownastheparliamentumestablishedbyMagnaCarta.

TheEnglishParliamentsduringthereignofKingHenryIIIinthe13thcenturyincorporatedelectedrepresentationfromshiresandtowns,andisconsideredtheforerunnerofthemodernparliament.[18]In1265,SimondeMontfort,6thEarlofLeicester,whowasinrebellionagainstHenryIII,summonedaparliamentofhissupporterswithoutroyalauthorisation.Thearchbishops,bishops,abbots,earlsandbaronsweresummoned,asweretwoknightsfromeachshireandtwoburgessesfromeachborough.Knightshadbeensummonedtopreviouscouncils,buttherepresentationoftheboroughswasunprecedented.DeMontfort'

sschemeofrepresentationandelectionwasformallyadoptedbyEdwardIintheso-called"

ModelParliament"

of1295.Atfirst,eachestatedebatedindependently;

bythereignofEdwardIII,however,ParliamenthadbeenseparatedintotwoHousesandwasrecognisablyassumingitsmodernform.

ParliamentunderHenryVIIIandEdwardVIThepurposeandstructureofparliamentinTudorEnglandunderwentasignificanttransformationunderthereignofHenryVIII.Originallyitsmethodswereprimarilymedievalandthemonarchstillhadinarguabledominionoverthedecisions.AccordingtoElton,itwasCromwellwhotheninitiatedthebeginningsofchangewithinparliament.

TheReformationActsgaveparliamentunlimitedpoweroverthecountry,andauthorityovereverymatter,beitsocial,economic,politicalorevenreligious;

itlegalisedtheReformation,officiallyandindisputably.TheKinghadtorulethroughthecouncil,notoverit,andtherehadtobemutualagreementwhencreatingorpassinglaws,changingreligionsoradjustingtaxes.Themonarchnolongerhadsolecontroloverthecountry.Forinsta