United Kingdom

F

The Judiciary

Britain has a long judicial history. Its legal system has been emulated throughout the world and many of its key principles and rights are part of U.S. law. The principles derived from British law include the right to trial by jury; the right to due process of law; freedom from unlawful imprisonment, called the writ of habeas corpus; the trial system of prosecution and defense; and the presumption that a person is innocent until proven guilty.

The judicial system has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon period, when the monarch established local courts to provide justice for all subjects. Monarchs delegated the power to hear cases to royal justices, who presided over courts in the monarch’s name. The British legal system relies on common law, which is based on custom and on decisions in previous legal cases, called precedents. Common law originated in the 12th century, growing out of the rules and traditions that ordinary people had worked out over time. Through the centuries common law evolved as it incorporated legal decisions made in specific cases, and it remains the basis of British law except when superseded by legislation. Unlike the United States, Britain does not have a Supreme Court that reviews legislation to determine its constitutionality; that responsibility falls to Parliament.

Those who practice law in Britain are divided into solicitors and barristers. Solicitors perform the everyday work of the law, particularly legal matters that can be handled solely with paperwork. Barristers plead cases in court. In Scotland barristers are called advocates. Solicitors engage barristers when they believe a client needs to go to court. Eminent barristers and, since 1996, some solicitors, may become Queen’s Counselors, or QCs. When they do it is said that they “take silk,’ because they switch from wearing cotton gowns to silk gowns in court. Barristers with long and distinguished careers may be chosen to become crown judges by the lord chancellor, the head of the judicial system in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legal systems.

Britain has several layers of courts and two kinds of legal proceedings, criminal and civil. Criminal law is concerned with acts punishable by the state, such as murder. Civil law involves disputes between private parties, either individuals, organizations, or companies. The final court of appeal for both civil and criminal cases is the House of Lords, where appeals are heard by the law lords.

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Criminal cases are handled in one of two ways. Petty offenses, such as simple theft or vandalism, are brought before a local magistrate, or justice of the peace (JP). These unpaid magistrates are appointed by the lord chancellor. They are members of the community who are assisted by legal experts. The vast majority of criminal cases in Britain are minor enough to be handled by JPs. More serious criminal offenses, such as murder, rape, and robbery, are sent to a Crown Court, where they are tried before a High Court or a circuit judge and a jury of local citizens. The Crown Court also hears appeals from the magistrate’s court. Convictions and sentences from the Crown Court may be taken to the Court of Appeals for the Criminal Division. The final court of appeals is the House of Lords.

Civil cases are heard in county courts before a single judge. County courts hear cases dealing with families, property, contracts, and torts (violations of a legal duty imposed by the state that cause injury to an individual). Above the county courts is the High Court, which hears more complicated civil cases. High Court cases are sent to one of three divisions: the Family Division, which handles complex divorce cases, adoptions, and matters relating to children; the Chancery Division, which handles business matters and estate cases; or the Queen’s Bench Division, which handles property matters and torts, as well as maritime and commercial cases. Appeals are heard by the Court of Appeals for the Civil Division, and ultimately by the House of Lords.

A more informal and less expensive alternative to civil and criminal courts is a tribunal, which handles minor cases outside of the official court system. Tribunals are made up of lay people and are regulated by the law. They settle disputes between private citizens, grievances between employers and employees, and complaints between citizens and public authorities.

G

Local Government

There is no constitutional division of powers between the central government and local government in Britain as there is in the United States between the federal government and state and local government bodies. Local governments can be either councils or authorities at the county, borough, or district level. Local councils are controlled by laws and policies established by the central government, particularly concerning budgets and spending. Councils at the local level in Britain are responsible for police and fire services, roads, traffic, housing, building regulations, libraries, environmental issues, and schools paid for by direct grants from central authorities.

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1

Local Government Prior to 1996

Reforms were made to the structure of local government throughout the United Kingdom during the 1970s. In 1973 Northern Ireland was divided into 26 districts, each with its own council. This is a single-tier system, meaning that the districts are the only layer of local government. The systems in England, Wales, and Scotland were made two-tier. In 1974 England and Wales were divided into counties, which were further subdivided into districts. Each county and district had its own council, with separate areas of responsibility. Six counties in England were designated metropolitan counties, and they have only district councils. In 1975 mainland Scotland’s counties were replaced with regions, which were subdivided into districts. Three all-purpose unitary island authorities were created for the Orkneys, Shetlands, and the Western Isles.

Northern Ireland had its own parliament, the Stormont, between 1921 and 1972. During this time it also sent representatives to Parliament in London. Civil violence erupted in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Northern Ireland when Catholics protested against the domination of the Protestant-controlled Stormont and inequality in treatment. The mounting violence eventually forced the British government to send in troops and to take control of the Northern Irish government, disbanding the Stormont.

In addition to local authorities or councils, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each had a Cabinet minister, a secretary of state who was responsible for budget and policy matters in areas such as education, public and health services, the environment, and industries. The Scottish minister worked through the Scottish Office, the Welsh minister through the Welsh Office, and the Northern Irish minister through the Northern Ireland Office.

Until recently, London did not have its own government or mayor. It was divided into 32 boroughs, which had their own councils. In addition to the boroughs, there was the City of London, a one-square-mile area of the old part of London containing Saint Paul’s Cathedral and many modern businesses. (The term city in Britain is applied only to those places that have a cathedral.) The City’s government, the Corporation of the City of London, was a separate entity from London’s 32 boroughs. It had its own council and mayor, who held the title lord mayor of London.

In 1984 the Conservative government established strict controls over local government in an effort to curtail local government spending. It also attempted to change the method of taxation in 1990, but was unsuccessful. To help with the cost of local government the Conservative government replaced the property tax with an annual community charge tax. This community charge tax was soon dubbed the poll tax because it set a fixed amount to be paid per person rather than taxing people according to their income level. Opposition to the tax was so strong it led to rioting in London. The community charge tax was repealed in 1992 and replaced with a council tax based on property value, with discounts for certain properties and low-income levels.

G

2

Recent Changes in Local Government

Local government was greatly reorganized in 1996 in Scotland and Wales. The two-tier structure of local government was replaced with unitary authorities, in the belief that most places would be better served by one layer of government rather than two. Scotland was divided into 29 authorities (in addition to the three island authorities) and Wales into 22 authorities, each with its own council. Gradually some nonmetropolitan counties in England, especially those with large populations, were divided into unitary authorities as well, although most counties retained two-tier authorities. In May 1998 the citizens of London voted to create a Greater London Authority (GLA). Established in 2000, the GLA includes a mayor elected to a four-year term and a 25-member elected assembly. In the past, the City of London had a lord mayor with only ceremonial power who was appointed by the government. The new London mayor has considerable power to govern the entire London metropolitan area, including the old City of London, and holds similar responsibilities to American mayors. Changes in local government have been controversial. Those opposed to reforms assert that changes are costly to implement and reflect the bias of the party in control of the government.

Government in Scotland and Wales changed again in 1997, when both regions voted to create their own legislatures to handle local matters—a parliament in Scotland and an assembly in Wales. The step taken by the British government is called devolution, a process by which the powers of the central government over local affairs devolve, or are passed down, to the Scottish and Welsh people through their own democratically elected local legislatures. The secretaries of state for Scotland and Wales remain as Cabinet posts but only represent each region’s interests within the British government. Their former responsibilities were taken over by the new elected parliament or assembly, which determines the shape of the local governments. Each region continues to elect members to the House of Commons, and the Parliament in London continues to preside over the entire United Kingdom in such matters as national defense and security, overall economic policy, employment legislation, and social security.

In 1998 an accord was signed between Catholic and Protestant factions in Northern Ireland to create a semiautonomous government for the province. The Good Friday Agreement, as it was called, established a 108-seat Northern Ireland Assembly, headed by an executive council, that would have power over a wide range of local issues. After long delays and several false starts, the British government transferred power to the new government in mid-2000.

H

Political Parties

British political parties date from the 17th century, when the Whig and the Tory parties appeared during the time of the Revolution of 1688 (see Glorious Revolution). Whigs believed in a strong Parliament and came from the landed classes who were allied with the merchants and Nonconformist or non-Anglican Protestants. Tory supporters came from the landed aristocracy and were defenders of the king and the Church of England. In the 1800s the Whigs merged with other parties interested in social reform to form the Liberal Party. The Tories took on the additional name of the Conservative Party in the 1830s in order to appeal to a broader electorate, and both names are used interchangeably. The Conservative Party is still a major party in the United Kingdom, but the Labour Party, founded around the turn of the 20th century, grew to become the primary opposition to the Conservatives, taking the place of the Liberals. The Liberal Party evolved into the Liberal Democrat Party, the third most popular party in Britain.

Since its founding days, the Labour Party has drawn traditional financial and electoral support from the trade unions. The Labour Party has a socialist element, supporting state control of important industries and a more equal distribution of wealth. After World War II (1939-1945), the Labour government nationalized a number of industries and established the welfare state, which provided people with social security, unemployment insurance, and the National Health Service. Subsequent Conservative governments denationalized industries but kept the National Health Service and the main provisions of the welfare state. In recent years, trade union membership has declined, as has union influence in the Labour Party. At the same time, the Labour Party has moved toward the political center; in 1995 it gave up its commitment to socialism and the nationalization of industries. The Labour Party won the May 1997 general elections by a landslide, taking 418 of the 659 seats in Parliament. Labor retained its majority-party status following the 2001 and 2005 general elections.

The Conservative Party favors private enterprise and minimal state regulation, and accepts the mixed economy, which involves private ownership of businesses with some government control. Although a mixed economy entails more public spending than conservatives in the United States would support, the British business community is a strong supporter of the Conservative Party because it has historically supported private enterprise and a free market. In the 1980s the Conservative government under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sought to increase private enterprise and reduce public legislation by introducing more competition into the National Health Service and by selling off public housing. Thatcher’s domestic policies were highly controversial and eventually led to the downfall of the Conservative government in the mid-1990s. Subsequently, the Conservative Party became the largest opposition party in Parliament, as the Labour Party won three straight victories (in 1997, 2001, and 2005).

The most important of Britain’s minor parties is the Liberal Democrat Party, formed in 1988 from the remnants of the Liberal Party and a majority of the Social Democratic Party. The Liberal Democrats make up the third largest party in Parliament, after Labor and the Conservatives. Other parties include the Scottish Nationalist Party; Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party that seeks self-government for Wales; and parties in Northern Ireland—Sinn Fein, the Ulster Unionist Party, the Democratic Unionist Party, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party.

The current voting system is called “first past the post.” This means that the party and candidates receiving the most votes win the election and become the party in power even if they do not receive more than 50 percent of the vote. Under this system, smaller parties have proportionally less representation in Parliament than their share of the popular vote, as their candidates often do not garner enough votes in constituencies to send members to Parliament. As a result, some people support a system of proportional representation, which is used in a number of European countries. In such a system, which can take various forms, the number of seats a party receives in the legislature is proportional to the number of votes the party receives in the election. Critics of proportional representation assert that it produces too many political parties and leads to weak governments. A commission was set up in 1997 to review voting reform and consider switching to proportional representation.