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Импичмент.

Impeachment- is the accusation of the president or other high- ranking officials, that can’t be dismissed in an ordinary course for violation of the law. According to the constitution of the United States all federal officials can get removed from office if they are found guilty of treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors in a course of impeachment.

Usually the investigation is taken by the Legal Committee that produces the recommendation to the House of Representatives. Once the House has voted in favor of impeachment, it then selects members to present the case before the Senate.

The impeachment decision itself is not enough to get the official dismissed, in order to do this, the Senate should pass the verdict that it finds him guilty. In this case the Senate plays the role of a court. If we are dealing with the president or vise- president, it is the Chief Justice of the United States who presides the impeachment proceedings, in all other cases the Vice President or a President pro tempore of the Senate presides. The accused has the right to be defended. The judgment of the Senate is made by roll-call-vote. The verdict of guilty results in the  removal from office but not the disqualification henceforward.  For the latter, a special decision is required that can be gotten by a simple majority.  It happened only once through the history of the United States that the House of Representatives started an impeachment, it was against President Andrew Johnson. The decision was taken by 128 votes against 47. It is well known that the president pro tempore of the Senate at that time, who was going to become president in case of Johnson’s removal, was so sure that the President would be found guilty that he started to choose his Cabinet for the future Senate, without waiting for the final decision. But in order to find him guilty the accusation lacked one vote: there were 35 votes for and 19 – against. Due to this one vote Johnson was kept in his post.

The last impeachment trial took place in 1936 when the federal judge Ritter was dismissed, although he was not disqualified from federal service.

 

The Supreme Court of the United States.

The Supreme Court is the highest organ of the judiciary of the United States. It includes a Chief Justice and Associate justices that are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. As a court of original primary jurisdiction, it deals with the cases affecting public ministers and consuls and other cases in which a state is a party. In all other cases based on the Constitution, federal laws and international treaties concluded in the United States, the Supreme Court is the last appellate instance.

The activity of the Supreme Court, that is the main organ of constitutional control, is of great importance for the state laws. The question about the relevance of a given law can be raised by any court but only if it is based on a concrete civil or criminal case. The final decision in this case is made by Supreme Court of the United States. The law that is recognized by it as unconstitutional can’t be abolished nor can’t be used. In practice, the Supreme Court of the United States interprets the items of the Constitution rather unrestrictedly. Very often the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States interpret the items of the Constitution firmly but sometimes liberal decisions can be made in order to limit the arbitrariness of the authorities.

 

The Judiciary.

The Judiciary power of the United States are vested in the Supreme Court- the only court of the country which establishment is mentioned in the Constitution. Besides, the Congress has established 11 federal appellate courts and 91 district courts subordinated to them. The federal judges are appointed for life and can be removed from their office only by impeachment or court of the Congress. All the cases that are valid according to the Constitution, Laws and other treaties of the United States, as well as cases concerning foreigners, government and cases in which a federal government is a party are under the state jurisdiction. The cases that are under the jurisdiction of the states, usually are not treat by the federal court.

Nowadays, the Supreme Court includes a Chief Justice and eight associate justices. Apart from the several exceptions, all cases go to the Supreme Court either by appeal from the lower instances- federal courts or by state courts. The majority of such cases are about the disagreements in the interpretation of the law and codes of law. In practice, the most important function of the Supreme Court is to verify that the activities of the legislative and executive branches are conformed to the Constitution. This kind of right of the juridical control was defined not by the Constitution but by Supreme Court itself by analyzing its constitutional role while dealing with the case “Merbery against Madison” in 1803, that was the starting point in this aspect of the activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Republican and the Democratic Parties.

The Democratic Party of the United States was established in 1828- it is considered to be a successor of the Democratic - Republican Party which was formed by Tomas Jefferson.  In the first half of the nineteenth century the Democratic Party was uniting planters- slave owners from the South with them part of the bourgeoisie from the North, and quite a number of groups of farmers with petty bourgeoisie.

The Republican Party was founded in 1854 as a coalition made of the industrial-commercial bourgeoisie from the north-eastern states, farmers, workers, handicraftsmen, which were united by interest in the liquidation of the political power of the slave-owners oligarchy of the South states of the country. Being in power, during Lincoln’s reign, the Republicans were using widely the progressive slogans for the execution of the agrarian reform and servitude limits. After the Civil War in 1861-1865 the Republican lost its progressive character.

 The difference between the democratic and republicans started to vanish. By the beginning of the 20 century both parties turned to be political organizations of the large scale.

For more than 100 years this two leading political bourgeois parties were changing each other.

 

THE LEGISLATIVE Branch. Text 1.

The legislative branch of the government, which is doing the enactment of the bills and amendments to the Constitution of the United States, is vested in a Congress of the United States.

The Congress of the United States consists of two chambers ( or a bicameral legislature), which are a Senate and the House of Representatives. There are 435 congressmen in a House of Representatives; each state is entitled to at least one representative according to its population. The more people leave in the state, the more number of seats each state has in the House.( California is the most populated state- it means that it has the most vast number of representatives). Each state is entitled to be represented in the Senate by two senators, without regard to density of population. So, nowadays, there are 100 people in the Senate, though this number can be changed with the changing of the number of States. The bill is considered to be enacted if two chambers have voted for it. This system provides the observance of the interests of both the country itself and the separate states.

The elections in the Senate are held twice a year, besides, each time one third of the senators is changed. The senators are elected by the direct voting without mediation of the electors.

Each senator is elected for 6 years and can be re- elected plenty of times. That’s why the total period of holding an office by a senator is not limited, as it is in the case with the president.

The elections to a House of Representatives are held also without intermediation, they are held once in two years, but all the congressmen are re-elected here, because  their term of office not 6 years as it is  in the Senate but 2 years only. But congressmen also can stand for elections an unlimited number of times.

 

THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH. TEXT 2.

The legislative branch is fulfilled by the representatives, elected from each state. It is the only one branch that is allowed to make the federal laws, levy taxes and appropriate money, declare war and put into operation the international treaties. The legislative branch is vested in a Congress of the United States, that is a bicameral legislature (or consisting of the two departments) called chambers.

        The House of Representatives consists of lawmakers, elected for 2 years. Each member of the House represents his own state. The number of districts in the state is defined according to the number of the population which is carefully examined every 10 years. States with the dense population have more districts, and accordingly, more representatives, than less populated states which have only, for example, one representative in the House.

The House of Representatives of the United States consists of 435 representatives.

The Senate consists of the lawmakers that are elected for 6 years.

From each state, regardless of the number of population, two senators are elected. This way the equal representation of the small states is done in at least one chamber of the Congress. The schedule of the senate elections is built the way that every two years only one third of the senators stand for elections. Due to this after each election a good number of experienced senators are kept in the Senate.

The main function of the Congress is to make the laws, including laws concerning taxes due to which the operation of the Government is financed. The law making starts with the drawing a bill. Then a select committee examines it, comments and makes amendments in the chamber where it was drawn. Then they vote for it. If the bill is approved it is led to the other chamber, where the similar procedure is held. If the chambers make different decisions on the bill, the representatives of both chambers work on it together in the Conference Committee. The groups that are trying to convince the congressmen to vote for or against the bill are called the “lobbyists”. Having gone through the both chambers of the Congress the agreed bill is going for the president’s approval. Only after he has signed it the bill is becoming a law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

British constitution

The sources of Constitution of Great Britain are statutes, judicial precedents, constitutional customs (conventions), and doctrines. British Constitution is very flexible, because the Parliament can make and cancel any law very easy, by using the same procedure.

Statute law. This part of constitution is consists of only statutes, i.e. the acts accepted in established order by the same edition of both Houses and authorized by the monarch. 

       Case law. This is sum of judgments, concerning constitutional matters, which will be necessary for courts if the same cases happen again in the future. There are common law and equity law in the system of the Case law. The system of norms made by royal judges has become a common law. Judges tried to follow the judgments that have been made earlier. At the same time the Monarch could reserve the right of mitigation for the most severe judgments, pointing at not on the precedents but at general principals of the Law.

       Common law plays a more important role in the sphere of British Constitution rather than judicial precedents. Constitutional customs, known as conventions, adjust very important matters of government, such as formation of the government by the leader of party who has won at parliamentary elections, procedures of summoning of the House of Parliament and dissolving of the House of Commons.

       Doctrines are represented as published opinions of famous scientists of Constitutional Law. They includes "The Treatise about laws of England » Брэктона (1250), « Comments of laws of England » Блэкстона (1865), and «the English constitution» Беджгота (1865) etc. Courts use doctrines when they don’t have appropriate statute, judicial precedent, or convention.

 

Circuit courts of appeals

The Circuit courts of appeals reviewing judgements of the District courts were organized in order to relieve the Supreme Court of the accumulation of cases in 1891. The number of circuits was brought to 11 (nowadays 12) and some changes were made in the order of taking cases to trial by the U.S. Supreme court.

In 1911 the circuit courts of appeals were reorganized. Their functions were adjusted to their name – they became only an appeals instance and Federal system in general has taken its present form: there is at least one District court being the court of original jurisdiction in each state (including the District of Columbia).

12 courts of appeals (one court in every district) are courts of appellate jurisdiction, they review judgements of the District courts and some federal administrative authorities.

The U.S. Supreme Court which has original jurisdiction in extremely limited number of cases, final jurisdiction in appellate cases and, at last, is the highest judicial authority in the USA fulfilling a function of judicial review hence having a right to vindicate the case from each inferior court and take it to trial is at the top of the Federal system.

Organized in different time special courts (the Court of Claims, the Tax Court, the Court of Customs) and some non-judicial authorities, such as the Federal Trade Commission, are parts of this three-layer system, but they stand slightly apart.

District courts of so-called U.S. territories: Panama Canal Zone, Guam, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico take special place in the federal court system.  These territories are not included in the union at the rights of the state but from the formal point of view they are integral part of it.

 

Bill of Rights

For most Americans the real foundation of their freedom is Bill of Rights passed in 1791. It is composed of 10 short clauses which guarantee freedom and rights of individual and prohibit governmental invasion of privacy. Every clause was passed as an Amendment to the primary text of the Constitution.

Bill of Rights guarantees Americans the freedom of religion, of speech and of the press as well as the freedom of the people to assembly in public places, the right to protest against the actions of the Government and to demand changes. Americans have a right to keep and bear Arms if they want it. Thanks to the Bill of Rights neither Police nor representatives of the Armed Forces have a right for unreasonable search and seizure of the person. They also have no right to search person’s house without proper determination of the court.

Bill of Rights guarantees the person accused of the crime the right for a speedy trial. Defendant can be trialed only by jury and should have guaranteed right to use services of the counsel for the defence and to have compulsory process for obtaining witness. Cruel and unusual punishments are prohibited.

Later years other 16 Constitutional Amendments were passed. It is not so much if we keep in mind that the Constitution was written in 1787. We should note only some of them here: one amendment prohibiting slavery and three ones which guarantee citizenship and full rights to every person irrespective of race and an amendment giving women the right to vote and one reducing voting age to 18.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Checks and balances

Speaking about dividing government into 3 independent and self-maintained branches Americans often mention so-called Checks and balances system. This system shows itself in different ways preventing the government authorities from serious mistakes. Here are some examples of its action:

If the Congress draws a Bill but the President considers it unacceptable, the President can put a veto on it. It means that the bill will not become an act. Congress can override the President’s veto by vote of two thirds of each House of Congress.

If the Congress passes a law subsequently challenged in the court as unconstitutional, the Supreme Court has the power to declare it unconstitutional thus to abate it.

The President is empowered to conclude treaties with the foreign countries and to appoint federal officials including the members of the Supreme Court. But the Senate must ratify all treaties and approve all appointments before they come into force. In such a way the Congress prevents possible unreasoned appointments of the President.

 

Совпадающая юрисдикция (Concurrent jurisdiction)

In some cases jurisdiction of district court and state court is the same, i.e., case can be heard – depending on circumstances prescribed by the law - in both state and district courts.

Theoretically jurisdiction distinction question between 2 branches of judicial system in the USA is relatively clear, but, in practice, it is very complex and puzzle. Transfer of cause from state to federal court connected with variety of formalities nonfulfillment of which causes (results in) many hardships and loss of time.

Concurrent jurisdiction basically concerns 2 categories of cases. The first category is  the cases regarding wrongdoings regulated by the Constitution of the US, federal laws and foreign conventions in which USA participates. If amount of suit is less than $10 000 the case will be heard - in spite of presence of all federal jurisdiction features – in state court. The second category is cases of combined citizenship with the sum of suit also less than $10 000. Such cases also are heard not in the federal courts but in the state one.

The objective that legislator pursues using concurrent jurisdiction quite evident: to free the federal courts from large amount of small cases, give them opportunity to concentrate on more important questions providing relative equability of judicial practice which is assumed (considered) by legislator  (considerably) important enough.

 

КОНГРЕСС США ( 5 к.)

     

The role of the Congress in the political activity of the USA is very important. It’s the highest legislative branch of the country. The Congress consists of 2 branches – the House pf Representatives and the Senate. The membership of the House of Representatives is 435, and the Senate is 100 (2 members from each state). The Congress regards approval of federal budget and all expenses of the operation of the government as its most important prerogative.  In principle, the Congress is able to delay, change or not to allow implementing of administration’s action which requires financial expenditures. Many congressmen stand for increase of the role of the Congress in building up the foreign and domestic policy of the USA.

Sessions of the Congress are convened once a year and continue, in fact, for months. As a rule, both Houses are in session simultaneously, although the Senate can be convened separately. It’s the President who convenes an extraordinary session.

The main work of the Congress takes place in its numerical committees and sub-committees. After the Congress have started its common legislative activity, all bills and resolutions are sent to one or another standing committee. In the House of Representatives it’s the Speaker who decides to what committee the bill to be sent for consideration, and in the Senate – Vice-President or President pro tempore. The Senate and the House, actually, pass recommendations of the committees without essential amendments. Committees of the Congress have an role. In fact, they predetermine the future of bills and issues which they consider. As President Wilson once noted: “The Congress being in session – is exposition for public , while committees are the Congress in operation (at work)”

 

Constitution of the UK (1)

Unlike the most European countries there is not a constitution in England, drawn up as the basic law of the land.

It is set of rules, customs, traditions and judicial precedents which have been established over centuries.

Thus we can speak about the presence of the Constitution in England only conditionally (?).

The British Constitution is made up of Constitutional Conventions and common law (authoritative lawyers’ opinions) which is as valid as the Constitutional Conventions.

English lawyers try to explain the absence of the written constitution as if the principles of Parliamentary sovereignty and civil law have been entirely realized in England.

In fact the absence of the written Constitution gives ruling party a chance to interpret rights and duties of citizens in a way most appropriate and profitable for the party at the moment, filling the old form (customs, traditions, conventions, etc.) with the new content.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Constitution of the GB (2)

The Constitution of the UK is an area of uncodified law.

There is not any single Act having been formally enacted and proclaimed as the Constitution of the UK.

The unwritten Constitution is made of statute law, common law, Constitutional Conventions.

Statute is the legislation Act accepted and approved according to the established procedure by both Houses and signed by the Head of the State.

Therefore the set of rules established by statutes is called the statute law.

It’s natural that statutory rules are not just the set of constitutional law, but also criminal law and civil law.

According to the British politicians, statutes of the constitutional importance are: The Bill of Rights (1689), Act of Settlement (1701), Parliament Acts (of 1911 and 1949) Magna Carta (1215).

Judicial precedents became the source of the law in England even in the Earlier Feudalism.

By the 13 century the system of the judicial precedents called the common law has been established.

By the 15 century another system called the equity law has been established.

After the judicial reform in the seventies, 19^th century the jurisdiction of the courts was expended by applying the common law and the equity law standards.

Thus the unified system of the case law, containing interpretation of statutes was established.

Constitution of the GB (3)

A Constitution is a set of rules which define the relationship between the various organs of government and between the government and citizens of a country.

Its purpose is to set parameters of government power and the right and duties of citizens.

The overall majority of countries have the written constitution.

But there is not the written constitution in the UK. But the statement that the British Constitution is not written doesn’t mean that there is not any constitution at all.

The Constitution of the UK is set of customs and conventions which in sum with several laws regulate the work of the parts of executive system in the UK.