1928, The Representation of the People Act

This removed the remaining discrimination against women. Registration as a voter was henceforth on the basis of age (21 and over), and residence in the constituency concerned (a minimum period of 3 months),

1949, The Parliament Act

This completed the work done by the 1911 Act by reducing the House of Lords' suspensive veto on legislation to a period of 1 year.

1969, The Representation of the People Act

This lowered the voting age to 18.

1972, The European Communities Act

This stipulates that the UK is bound by rulings of the European Court. It recognizes that certain categories of rules dealing with the rights and duties of individuals are to be applied directly in British courts without any further enactment by the Westminster Parliament.

B. Find the information.

The following statements are applicable to the Acts that figure on the list. Your task is to match each statement to the appropriate Act.

1. The monarch cannot interfere with the legal system unless he or she consults and obtains permissions from Parliament.

2. You cannot hold a prisoner indefinitely without giving him a trial.

3. The House of Lords may no longer hold up Public Bills for more than a year.

4. Women over 21 are eligible to vote providing they fulfill the residency requirements.

5. People who vote may do so without revealing to others who they have voted for.

C. Legal advice. Look at the following (fictitious) situations. Which Acts would a lawyer have to refer to in each case?

1. A magistrate has sentenced a shoplifter to life imprisonment.

2. During elections, the officials cannot find the ballot boxes. Therefore, they are asking the voters simply to come to a desk and tell the official whom they want to note for.

3. The police have had a suspect in custody for over six month. He has been kept in prison and has never appeared in court.

4. On June the first last year, the House of Commons passed an Education Bill aimed at nationalizing all private schools. It’s now the end of May and the House of Lords is still debating. The Government lawyers must advise.

5. The Queen wants to ask the Prime Minister not to allow debate in the House of Commons on a Bill to abolish the monarchy.

Task 4. Read and translate the preamble to the Russian Constitution and compare it with the preamble to the US Constitution. Find the official variant in Russian.

Constitution of the Russian Federation

We, the multinational people of the Russian Federation, united by a com­mon fate on our land, establishing human rights and freedoms, civil peace and accord, preserving the historically established State unity, proceeding from universally acknowledged principles of equality and self-determina­tion of peoples, revering the memory of ancestors who have passed on to us their love for the Fatherland and faith in good and justice, reviving the sov­ereign statehood of Russia and asserting the firmness of its democratic basis, striving to ensure the well-being and prosperity of Russia, proceeding from the responsibility for our Fatherland before present and future generations, recognizing ourselves to be a part of the world community, do hereby adopt the CONSTITUTION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.