Queen’s Powers

1. As a result of a long process of change during which the monarchy's absolute power has been gradually reduced, custom now dictates that the Queen follows ministerial advice.

2. Within this framework she performs a range of important duties, such as summoning, proroguing and dissolving Parliament and giving Royal Assent to legislation passed by the UK Parliament, the Scottish Parliament or the Northern Ireland Assembly.

3. The Queen formally appoints important office holders, including the Prime Minister and other government ministers, judges, officers in the armed forces, governors, diplomats, bishops and some other senior clergy of the Church of England.

4. In instances where people have been wrongly convicted of crimes, she is involved in pardoning them. She also confers peerages, knighthoods and other honours.

5. In international affairs the Queen, as Head of State, has the power to declare war and make peace, to recognise foreign states, to conclude treaties and to take over or give up territory.

6. The law states that a regent has to be appointed to perform the royal functions if the monarch is totally incapacitated.

7. The regency follows the line of succession, provided that the person concerned has reached the age of 18.

$AM 0854, 18, 1, 1,0,0

Choose one paragraph from the following reading that best suits each statement.

#1. A committee stage is a very important stage for the bill to become a law. (…)

#2. To become an Act of Parliament the bill must pass through the two Houses and be granted Queen’s assent. (…)

#3. The British Parliament is considered to have been the model for other parliamentary systems. (…)

#4. One of the Houses of the British Parliament is known to be a body of unelected members. (…)

#5. Some bills rarely become Acts of Parliament, especially when the term of the acting Parliament is put at stake and they originate in the Lords. (…)

The British Parliament

1. The British Parliament is often referred to as the "Mother of Parliaments" because it has been the model for most other parliamentary systems, and its Acts have created many other parliaments.

2. In the United Kingdom, Parliament consists of the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the Monarch. The House of Commons is composed of over 600 members who are directly elected by British citizens to represent various cities, communities, and other electoral districts. The House of Lords is a body of long-serving, unelected members: 92 of whom inherit their seats and 574 of whom have been appointed to lifetime seats.

3. Legislation can originate from either the Lords or the Commons. It is voted on in several distinct stages, called readings, in each house. First reading is merely a formality. Second reading is where the bill as a whole is considered. Third reading is detailed consideration of clauses of the bill. In addition to the three readings a bill also goes through a committee stage where it is considered in great detail. Once the bill has been passed by one house it goes to the other and essentially repeats the process.

4. If after the two sets of readings there are disagreements between the versions that the two houses passed, it is returned to the first house for consideration of the amendments made by the second. If it passes through the amendment stage Royal Assent is granted and the bill becomes law as an Act of Parliament.

5. If an ordinary bill originates in the Commons the Lords can only block it for a maximum of one session of Parliament.

6. The exceptions to this rule are things like bills to prolong the life of a Parliament beyond five years. If a bill originates in the Lords then the Lords can block it for as long as it likes.

$AM 0855, 18, 1, 1,0,0

Choose one paragraph from the following reading that best suits each statement.

#1. Young offenders, who are past 16, may work for the sake of the community. (…)

#2. Children under 10, who misbehave themselves, may be placed under the supervision of a specified officer. (…)

#3. When a young offender pleads guilty and is convicted for the first time, the youth offender panel makes him repair the harm done. (…)

#4. Young offenders, who attained the age of criminal responsibility, are tried in the Youth court. (…)

#5. The Youth courts empanel only justices of the Peace. (…)