From the absolutely monarchy To the constitutional monarchy

of 1688 led to a constitutional monarchy restricted by laws such as the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701, although limits on the power of the monarch are much older than that as the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum, is an English legal charter, originally issued in the year It was written in Latin and is known by its Latin name. The usual English translation of Magna Carta is Great Charter. Magna Carta required King John of England to proclaim certain rights, respect certain legal procedures, and accept that his will could be bound by the law. It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether free or fettered and implicitly supported what became the writ of habeas corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment. A constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a written, unwritten or blended constitution. It differs from absolute monarchy in that an absolute monarch serves as the sole source of political power in the state and is not legally bound by any constitution. The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and unitary state consisting of four countries: England, Northern, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is governed by a parliamentary system with its seat of government in London, the capital. In Britain, the Glorious Revolution

The United Kingdom was created out of the existing historic kingdoms of, England Ireland and Scotland Between the 17th and 19th centuries a series of political events brought these constituent elements into a close political union. Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects (the barons) in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. It was preceded by the 1100 Charter of Liberties in which King Henry I voluntarily stated that his own powers were under the law. In practice, Magna Carta in the medieval period mostly did not limit the power of Kings; but by the time of the English Civil War it had become an important symbol for those who wished to show that the King was bound by the law. Today the monarchy in Britain is politically neutral and by convention the role is largely ceremonial. No person may accept significant public office without swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen.

The UK has a parliamentary government based on the Westminster system that has been emulated around the world—a legacy of the British Empire. The Parliament of the Unite Kingdom that meets in the Palace of Westminster has two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords, and any Bill passed requires Royal Assent to become law. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom since the devolved parliament in Scotland and devolved assemblies in Northern Ireland, and Wales are not sovereign bodies and could be abolished by the UK parliament despite being established following public approval as expressed in referenda. On 1 May 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the political union of the Kingdom of England (which included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland. This event was the result of the Treaty of Union that was agreed on 22 July 1706, and then ratified by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland each passing an Act of Union in 1707.

The basic principle of the United Kingdom’s constitution is the separation of powers among the various branches of government, so that the main organs of government are separate and distinct one another: The sovereign is the head of State; The legislature is the supreme legislative authority and consists of the Queen in Parliament, although the sovereign today plays a merely formal role; The executive consists of the Prime Minister and the government ministers, and is responsible for putting laws into effect the administration of public affairs at both national and international level; The judiciary is concerned with the administration of justice and is fully independent of both the legislative and the executive branches. Legislative organs Executive organs Judicial organs

Today laws are meid by parliament, the centre of executive power is the Government and judicial power is exercised by the Law Courts. The sovereign is therefore left free to perform the functions of an impartial head of state. This explains the statement that “the Queen reigns but does not rule”. The Queen still plays an important role in British pubblic opinion and enjoys the loyalty of British people, who see in the monarchy a symbol of national unity. Over the past few years, however, the number of people who are against the monarchy has gradually but significantly incresed. In law, the Queen is: Head of state; an integral part of the legislature; head of the executive; Head of the judiciary; commander – in – chief of the armed forces; temporal head of the established Church of England; head of the Commonwealth. The Crown

Its main functions are: to pass laws; to vote texation; to control the Government; to debate the major issues of the day. Parliament represents the highest level of political debate and is the supreme legislative authority in the country. The Britsh Parliament consists of to Houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Real political power, however, lies in the Houses of Commons, which, being an elected body, represents the people directly. Both Houses are situes in the Palace of Westminster in London. The Parliament

The House of Lordes The Lords Temporal include the Hereditary Peers, the Life Peers and the Law Lords, who are appointed to assist the House in the performance of its judical duites, since the House of Lords is the final Court of Appeal of the Land. The Lords Spiritual are the Archbishops and Senior Bishops of the Church of England. Members of the House of Lords receive no salary for their parliamentary work. The House of Lords is presided over by the Lord Chancellor. The House of Lords has limited political power because its members, known as “peers” are not elected by the people but are either hereditary or oppointed for life by the sovereign. It still exercises some influence on political life, however, and its principal legislative function is to act as a chamber of revision, complementing, not rivalling, the elected House.There is no limit to the number of peers who can be members of the House of Lords. At the present time there are about 730 peers and peeresses. They are divided into Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual.

The House of Commons The electoral system is very simple. Each elector may cast one vote and in each constituency the candidate with the largest number of votes wins the seat. The presidento of the House of Commons is the Speaker. The House of Commons is the real centre of legislative power in Britain. It is a representative assembly of 659 members (MPs), one for each constituency, elected by universal adult suffrage. A constituency is a political administrative district whose votes a single MP to represent them in the House of Commons. Elections to the House are of two kinds: general elections, which are held, normally every five years, and by- elections, which are held when a vacancy occurs in a constituency as a result of its member’s death or resignation.