Political system

1.

Political system
Of the Great Britain
Yevhenii Syvoborod
Mykyta Osadchyi

2.

Four countries in one
kingdom
The United Kingdom - is an
island nation in northwestern
Europe, consisting of
England, Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland. In
England, the birthplace of
Shakespeare and The
Beatles, the capital of the
country, London, is the
world's business and cultural
center.

3.

Autonomy of government in
each region
All the countries within the United Kingdom,
which have different legal status as
autonomies, while sharing one Crown (each in
its own right).
Scottish Parliament
National Assembly for Wales
Northern Ireland Assembly
Each country has its own system of
administrative and geographical division, which
often traces its origins back to the early
kingdoms and counties of the .

4.

Basic structure of the Great
Britain
In Modern times, the structure of Great Britain is based on the principle of
a quasi-federal state.
The country still does not have a constitution in its formal-legal meaningIts
system of government (known as the Westminster system) is also adopted
in other Commonwealth states, such as Canada, India, Australia, New
Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia.

5.

Parliamentary monarchy
Of the Great Britain
In the 19th century, the formation of a parliamentary monarchy was largely
completed in England. The supreme power belonged to the monarch (king
or queen), parliament and government.
The monarch was the head of state and approved laws. Parliament
passed draft laws.
Parliament consisted of two houses: the upper house, the House of Lords,
and the lower house, the House of Commons. Members of the House of
Lords were appointed by the monarch from the representatives of the
upper nobility.

6.

The British Constitution
The British Constitution is not codified and has both written and unwritten
sources. The former include Acts of Parliament as well as judicial
decisions. The latter are referred to as constitutional customs
(conventions).
Three components of the Constitution are distinguished:
• Statute Law;
• Legislation;
• common law;
• constitutional agreements;

7.

King of the United Kingdom
Head of State and source of executive, judicial
and legislative power in the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland, now King
Charles III.
The British monarch appoints the leader of the
party that wins the majority election as Prime
Minister, although in theory he has the right to
appoint any British subject to the post.
The monarch gives royal assent to bills of
parliament, while formally having the right to
refuse. The monarch can also dissolve parliament
on the advice of the prime minister.

8.

House of Commons
Since the territory of the UK is divided into
constituencies, roughly equal in population
(determined by the Boundary Commission), each
constituency elects one parliamentarian to the
House of Commons.
There is almost always a party with a majority in
the chamber due to the use of a single-round
majoritarian system, which under Duverger's Law
led to the creation of a two-party system. Only
one parliamentarian is currently non-partisan, and
there are two representatives of minor parties.

9.

House of Lords
It used to be a hereditary, aristocratic chamber. After
Major's reform and still today, it is a "mixture" of
hereditary members, Church of England bishops and
appointed members (life peers).
These days, this chamber considers bills from the
House of Commons without the right to amend, and
also has the power of a retention veto - to delay a bill
for a year (unless it is a "money bill" or an election
promise).
The House of Lords is also the UK's most recent court
of appeal; in practice, cases are heard only by the
Law Lords. The Constitutional Reform Act of 2001
plans to replace the Lords with the UK Supreme
Court.

10.

Electoral systems
There are different systems used in the UK:
First Past the Post is used for national elections and
local government elections in England and Wales
(formerly Scotland).
The Additional Member System was introduced after the
introduction of regional autonomy (devolution) in 1999
for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and
London Assembly.
Single Transferable Vote is used for elections to the
Northern Ireland Assembly and local councils.
Party Lists are used for elections to the European
Parliament.
Supplementary Vote is used to elect mayors for cities
such as London.

11.

Executive branch
The functions of the executive are vested in the
Government.
The highest level of government is the Cabinet,
appointed by the monarch. The head of the Cabinet is
the Prime Minister, who is chosen by the monarch
subject to unwritten conventions (a candidate for office
must be a member of the House of Commons and have
the support of the Commons sufficient for appointment).
The Prime Minister then chooses the remaining
Ministers, who make up the Government and are the
political heads of Departments. Approximately 20 Chief
Ministers make up the Cabinet.

12.

Judicial authority
The United Kingdom does not have a unified judicial system and is divided into
three separate jurisdictions, represented by the judiciary of Scotland, the courts
of Northern Ireland and the courts of England. Judicial reform in 2005 created the
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, which became operational in 2009. The
UK Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal for all levels of courts in
England, Wales and Northern Ireland and only for civil cases in the courts of
Scotland.
The highest central judicial body is the Supreme Court of Justice, which consists
of:
High Court (dealing with civil disputes);
Crown Court (specializing in criminal matters);
Court of Appeal.

13.

Courts
The High Court consists of 80 judges and is divided into three divisions: the
Queen's Bench (headed by the Lord Chief Justice), the Chancery Division
(headed by the Vice Chancellor), and the Family Division (headed by the
President of the Division). The distribution of cases between the divisions is
determined by the specialization of judges and the peculiarities of the procedure;
in principle, each division may hear any case within the competence of that court.
The Court of Appeal has 18 judges, called Lord Justices, headed by the Keeper
of Judicial Records. Cases are heard by a panel of three judges. One division of
the court deals only with criminal cases. This is the criminal division of the Court
of Appeal. Unlike the civil division, it is not customary for the opinion of the judges
who remain in the minority to be made known.

14.

Courts
Crown Court is a new entity created by the Courts of Justice Acts 1971. It hears
criminal cases. Its composition is diverse. Depending on the type of offense, a
case may be heard by:
a district judge (a judge of a special judicial district in a county or group of
counties);
a High Court judge (based in the capital, but its members organize mobile
sessions of the court);a barrister with special training and authority (barristers
or solicitor);
an acting judge.

15.

The United Kingdom Civil
Service
The UK Civil Service is a permanent, politically neutral organization that supports
government ministries in the performance of their duties, regardless of political
party. Unlike other democracies, employees remain after a change of government.
The core of the Civil Service is organized as a multitude of Government
Departments. Each department is politically headed by one significant and a small
team of unimportant ministers.
In most cases, the minister is referred to as Secretary of
State and a member of the Cabinet. The administration of
the department is headed by a lead civil servant, in most
departments called the Permanent Secretary. Most civil
service personnel actually work in executive agencies,
separate organizations reporting to the Department of State.