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THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION
-English Class test-
The English Constitution is not made up of a unitary written text: it is composed of several documents customs and case-laws. The first important document, speaking about the English Constitution, is the Magna Charta (1215). The Barons wrote this document in order to limit the Monarch's power for the first time. During the XIII century a "Magnum Concilium" was created: it was organised into two Houses(House of Lords and House of Commons), like nowadays Parliament. This organ get more power during the XVII century, when King Charles I was executed because he had tried to act without the Parliamentary consent and when, through the Bloodless Revolution, it established the king's succession. From 1689 on the King became subjectes to the law and the Parliament as any other British citizen through the Bill of Rights. In 1701 the Parliament approved the Act of Settlement, in order to discuss the rules of the Monarch again. The XIX century represented a period of social reforms that dealt with the rights of the Catholics, of the workers and of rights to vote. In 1918 the universal suffrage was approved. Today's Constitution follows the Westminster model. The Cabinet has more power than before and there are two main parties: The Conservative Party and the Labour Party. The elections fallows the model of the "First past the Post": the country is divided into 689 constituencies and every constituency elects a representative. The 659 elected representatives becomes members of the House of Commons.
Since the English Constitution is made up of many documents and habits, written and approved during different periods, it has not a fixed and immutable structure: every rule can be altered by a law approved by the Parliament.
The most important constitutional principles are the "sovereignty of the Parliament" above all other institutions (even if today it is limited by European laws and by the large use of referendum) and the "rule of law" that guarantees the fundamental rights and liberties of the citizens and the equality in front of the law.
The United Kingdom is a Constitutional Monarchy, in which the Monarch's power is limited by the Constitution and the Parliament. Today the King ha the executive power (but the Government provides to it) and the representative power. He is also the Chief of the Anglican Church and of the Army. Anyway he can act only on purpose or with the consent of the ministers.
Most powers are given to the Parliament: it must approve laws and discuss the themes on the agenda, he should organise the financial means and control the Government activity.
It is made up of two Houses: the House of Commons, made up of 659 members, whose duty is approving or rejecting laws and controlling the Government and the House of Lords, also called Chamber of Second Thought, that can only delay the approval of a law, or approve it. But a law needs also the Royal Assent in order to be passed.
The Italian Constitution is totally different. First of all in Italy Monarchy was abolished in 1946, by universal suffrage. During the same year a Constitutional Assembly (that was made up of the representatives of the main parties) was elected and it worked until the end of 1947.
On the 1st January 1948 the Italian Constitution came into force. It was the result of compromise of the values of the three main tendencies of the period: the Christian-democratic, liberal and left wing trends.
The Italian Constitution is made up of 139 articles: the first part (articles 1-12) deals with the Fundamental Principles, the second (13-54) with rights and duties of the citizens and the last (55-139) with the organisation of the Republic, that is followed by 18 final provisions.
The three powers (legislative, executive and justice) are divided between three different organs: the Parliament, the Government and the Court and tribunals.
There has been some revisions of the Constitution (in 1983-85,1992-94, 1997-98) about the autonomy of the Regions, about the political participation, the Rights of the House of Savoy and the abolition of the death penalty.
In England the so-called Common Law is also present. It refers to laws and a legal system developed through the decision of the court and tribunals. Every decision depends on the decision taken for previous similar cases. If there is no law about the problem. The judge has the duty to make law by creating a precedent. Today the Common Law is present in the United Kingdom, in the U.S.A., in Canada, in Australia and in many countries that were colonised by Great Britain.
While the Common Law is based on the decision of the Court and so Justice and precedent cases have a fundamental role, in statutory law (present in many European countries) the most important power is the legislative one and laws and customs comes from discussion of the legislative organs and from cases. On the contrary regulatory law is based on the executive power.
The Common law has ancient origins: before 1154 Justice was based on local customs and habits. In 1154 Henry II signed the Treaty of Glanvil, the first document about crimes and rights of property.
During the same period the "Curia Regis" was created and for the first time a court got a main role in administration and executive power. During the reign of Henry III three courts were created. A court should have maintained peace, the others discussed about civil jurisdiction and taxation.
During the XIV century the judges began to give importance to the precedents cases. During the XV century the courts' power was limited by the Chancellor (head of the House of Lords) and their relationship became better only during the XIX century. Today the Chancellor has no justicial power, because of the creation of the Supreme Court in 2005.
The Italian and English Constitution are totally different. First of all the Italian Constitution is a unitary written document, created by an assembly in a relative short time. Even if there have been some amendments, it is very difficult to modify it. On the contrary the English Constitution is not totally written and it is organised into documents and customs whose origins and period are totally different. It has a continuous evolution, because it can be modified just by the consent of the Parliament. Besides the United Kingdom is a Constitional Monarchy, while Italy is a Republic, even if the Monarch's effective powers are similar to the ones of the President of the Republic.
The process used to approve rules and the role of the Parliament are similar in both nations.