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1. Meanings

Find the meanings of the words in bold type. They are defined in the chapters of the book.

-Crown: the government of a country, thought of as being represented by a king or queen.

-reign : to be the king or queen of a country:

-ruled : (rule) to decide officially. ( judge, courts, government... )

summoned :

summons : a legal document issued by a court and addressed to a party or a witness in the course of legal proceeding.

Dissolved :(dissolve) to end an official organization or a legal arrangement (like the parliament)

sovereign :

statute book : Book of laws passed by Parliament and which has received the Royal Assent.

Case law : The corpus of judicial decisions.

Trial : a formal examination of evidence in court by a judge and often a jury, to decide if somebody accused of a crime is guilty or not.

jury :a group of 12 men and women selected at random from the electoral register and sworn in to decide the guilt or innocence of a person accused of a criminal offence and who is being tried in the Crown Court. Juror are also called upon to sit on certain civil cases when they sit as a jury of 8 for trials in the Country Court, ans as a jury of 10 for trials in the High Court (on the conviction or liability of a defendant in court. The role of a jury in a civil case is to determine factual issues between the parties, and to determine the appropriate award of damages.

Habeas corpus : a civil proceeding used to determine whether re imprisonment of a person is legal.

Parliament : is a representative assemblies. It's the supreme legislative institution in the UK. It's a bicameral legislature. Which includes an upper house (Housse of Lords) and a lower house (House of Commons). The members come from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Irland.

House of Lords : The upper house of Parliament.

House of Commons : The lower house of Parliament.

2. Use of the article.

1. Note the use of the article with the following nouns : Magna Carta, House of Lords, House of Commons, Parliament, England, King, habeas corpus.

2. Write a sentence using each of these terms

1.Magna Carta and Habeas corups are latin's words that why there is no article before. England is a country and Parliament an institution (in general theire is no article before an institution).

The noun “king” is particular. 'The” can be use if it's about function of king but not to named a king, for instance “king Charles I”.

The two houses (Lords and commons) are institutions but its one house or the other, the use of “the” is to show clearly which houses we speak about, not houses in general.

2. Magna Carta and habeas corpus are two of the constitutionals text which regulate relations between Parliament (composed by The House of Lord and The House of Commons) and the king in england.

3. Explanations

1. Explain the historical origin and the development of Parliament in England.

2. Explain what the ancient constitution is.

1.The history of Parliament is really stormy and takes origins in the witenagemot, at the 7^th centuary functioned like a kind of nation assembly with most important noblemen in england and ecclesiastic who take advices to the king. Later, in 1066, king john an assembly, Curia Regis gave a common counsel cause there is no Parliament yet. Curia Regis was composed by men among the baronage.

Parliament really appeared during the 13^th century, the greater barons forming what became the House of Lord and the lesser the House of commons but only at the middle of the 14^th a settled bicameral Parliament is established.

Under james I and Charles I (Tudor) at the 17^th Parliament threatened kings ruled alone without any consultation of Parliament, and finally is dissolved by Charles I in 1629. It was eleven years of a personnal rule.Charles I died during the civil war who started in the 1640s and the republic is proclaimed an Cromwell abolished the House of Lord.

With the return of the monarchy, Two years after cromwell died, Parliament restricted Charles II's powers. His successor wants to make an absolut monarchy but he failled : he was overthrown by Parliament who offered the Crown to William of Orange and at the same time, in 1688- 1689 voted the Bill of Right.

This text is important in the history and the present of Parliament cause it defined the organization and relations between Parliament and the Crown. The Act of Settlement in 1701 completed it and bring a new article : Now Parliament can choose the name of the king. Since this moment we're really in a parliamentary regime.

2.The ancient constitution is three principles established by Parliament on the basis of the terms laid down by the Magna Carta. These principles are that any new taxation had to be sanctioned by both houses of Parliament, if not, this taxation is illegal and the Commons can also inquire into and to amend the abuse of the Crown's administration. Under this constitution power of the Crown is checked by Parliament. The separation of powers is not in three distinguished fonctions and constitutional actors, It's an institutional divide between the Crown and Parliament. However, the Crown doesn't shared all the powers with Parliament : the king reigned supreme in such area as foreign affairs, the army and navy and coinage.The ancient constitution collapsed during the civil war in the 1640s under Charles I.