Learning Paths » 5A Interacting
THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ITALIAN AND ENGLISH CONSTITUTION
The English constitution is not a written text and, in a certain sense, it does not exist as a formal document. From 1215 revolutionary acts took place in the United Kingdom.
First of all a document called Magna Charta and released by the barons to limit the King's power provided a set of guarantees for the individual which are still the base of the English constitution.
Later on after the Magnum Concilium was summoned, the Parliament came into birth and bicameralism took a relevant part in the country.
Another important date in the history of constitution is 1689 - a year after the Glorious Revolution - when the Bill of Rights came into force guarantying freedom for individuals and the two Houses (House of Common and House of Lords). The Bill is used nowadays and it establishes individual and press freedom, private property, freedom of expression and so on.
In the 18th century the Cabinet grew in autonomy from the King (in 1649 Charles I was executed for instance) and started to follow parliamentary majority allowing the Parliament to increase its power. One century later the United Kingdom was a world power first of all thanks to industrialization; in the 19th century great industrial cities had representatives in the House of Commons and the suffrage was extended to over 2 million people. Moreover during the century the Government started to depend on the two Houses.
The twentieth century saw the birth of the "Westminster Model" of democracy which included the two major parties as representative figures. The two parties are the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. The last is now leader of the Parliament after passing through a period of insuccess ended with the election of Tony Blair in 1997. The party strictly follows its leader who intends to maintain his electoral plan.
In England the Queen's authority is out of discussion and she can act almost every time she wants even to decide the Prime Minister. She has judicial power and in extraordinary cases she can dismiss the Parliament.
For what concerns the Parliament, it is organized into two Hoses: the House of Common whose ministers are elected by citizens and the House of Lords who includes 733 members (from life Lords to "right of blood" Lords and so on).
A law, to be passed, must pass through the House of Commons where it is presented; then it is read by the House of Lords for a second approbation and last but not least it receives royal assent. As a matter of fact, the Queen has always been an important figure for English people. She represents them in the world. But during the centuries king's figure has become less important for what concerns legal aspects and the Prime Minister plays a fundamental role for the United Kingdom system efficiency.
The constitution, as I have already said, in not written and all the rules can be modified by a law approved in the Parliament. Rules are normative and consuetudinary so that the constitution's role is the one to establish the relation between citizens and institutions, reciprocal relations among institutions and institutions themselves. Its main principles are the Sovereignty of the Parliament and the Rule of Law. The first has decreased during the 20th century when the United Kingdom entered the European Union adopting the European Convention of Human Rights. The second concerns liberties for the individual, equality in front of laws which must be observed by all the citizens and loyal behaviours of the institutions in observance of laws.
As we can see in England the Monarchy still plays a fundamental role most for what concerns image and it is always respected. The Italian situation is quite different. As a matter of fact the monarchy was abolished in 1946 when for the first time men and women could vote. A year later after a Constituent Assembly was elected and it guaranteed a formal constitution for the end of the year.
On the 1st of January 1948 the Italian Constitution came into force providing fundamental rights to citizens.
Differently from the United Kingdom, in Italy the constitution is a document arranged into three parts:
- fundamental rights
- rights and duties of citizens
- organization of Parliament and other norms.
In Italy there were three trends of thought which finally reached a compromise about tyranny; no dictator should tyrannize the country anymore. On the other hand these parties had different ideas. The Christian Democrats for example were interested in marriage and family rights while the communists (left-wing) focussed on workers' rights. Moreover the power is divided into three sections: legislative, executive and judicial branches and the constitution establishes their interaction (a common point with the English Constitution).
While in England rules can be modified, in Italy there are rigid laws written on paper. In England the Common Law is in force which is a law developed from the legal system considering of cases faced in courts and tribunals. Right for that reason it can be modelled for every different case. It is based on judges' decision.
The Common Law is opposed to statutory and regulatory laws and it is used almost in every country (such as federal U.S.A., India, Australia and of course Wales and Ireland) which had been colonized by Great Britain. The most relevant differences between Common Law and statutory law is the one that statutory law depends on the legislature. Moreover regulatory law is promulgated by agencies which refer to the authority.
Considering the name is easy to understand that this was the law that the whole country had in common which was based on "casuistry"; moreover the procedure practised was known as the adversarial system and it provided a regular development of the case in observation of laws.