L2 UNIT 3: Britain's Uncodified Constitution

Reading Comprehension (p. 22) :

A written constitution for the UK is ‘inevitable’, says First Minister Carwyn Jones

D. Read the article and answer the following questions:

1. Explain the term in the article ‘multiple centres of democratic accountability’.

The transfer of certain limited powers from the UK parliament to regional governments (like

the national Parliament in Scotland, the national Assembly in Wales and the national Assembly in N.

Ireland) has resulted in the creation of devolved systems of government. 

Even though the devolved systems have certain powers to make decisions in certain matters (education, health, depending on the region), the UK parliament still retains authority over the devolved institutions and the powers given to the regional governments can be withdrawn at any time.  These regional governments with delegated powers, though not wholly controlled by the UK parliament remain accountable to it.  

2. Describe the powers of the UK Parliament with reference to the text.

The text indicates that the UK parliament can withdraw all powers delegated to the devolved

administration at any time; it insists on the sovereignty of the UK Parliament as it possesses the

authority to make its own laws, amend them, and enforce changes that can become effective

immediately (like abolishing the Scottish parliament without a vote); and the UK parliament

functions within the framework of an unwritten constitution and changes can take place according to

the will of the parliament.

3. Why does Carwyn Jones insist on the need for a written constitution? 

First Minister Carwyn Jones insists on the need for a written constitution to state clearly the

extent of devolved powers to its regional governments. He also speaks of the need for safeguards to protect the devolved institutions from being dissolved by the Parliament without a vote. 

Reading Comprehension: Summary

This document comments on Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones’s calls for a codified constitution for the UK.

C. Jones contends that the need to protect local assemblies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland demands / requires a written codified constitution. Under the current system, these assemblies may be repealed by Westminster at any time (like any other statute) without a vote by the people.

Should they be enshrined / If they were enshrined in a written constitution, it would be impossible for Westminster to scrap regional parliaments without putting the question to the people.

Such a move would, without a doubt, put an end to the very principle of parliamentary sovereignty and would certainly officialise the fact that the UK is a looser entity with multiple centres of democratic accountability.

Yet, far from threatening its existence, a codified constitution would actually strengthen the UK as it could well convince Scotland to abandon its efforts to break away from the UK to become independent.

Exercise 1 (p. 42) : 

Complete the following sentences. Write only one sentence

1- While a civil action encompasses any dispute raised between a claimant against a defendant, 

criminal actions are launched by the Crown Prosecution Service which prosecutes one or 

several defendants for an alleged criminal offence. 

2- Unlike slander which is made orally, libel is construed as a permanent form of defamation, 

whether it be written in the press and on a website or expressed in works of art. 

3- Divisional courts have appellate jurisdictions over cases heard in county courts, and 

sometimes magistrates’ courts, and are present in each of the three branches of the High 

Court of Justice. 

4- In order to avoid a trial, parties to a civil litigation are usually strongly advised to settle their 

disputes through ADR or arbitration. 

5- Multi-track cases refer to complex cases which are usually allocated to the High Court of 

Justice. 

Grammar (p. 50-51):

1-Complete the following phrases with the right preposition: 

1- To be liable FOR something 

2- To claim damages FOR something 

3- To entitled TO compensation 

4- To bring a case AGAINST someone

5- To fine someone FOR something 

6- To sue FOR an injunction 

2- Find the missing prepositions in the following text: 

Inside justice: London Rent Assessment Panel 

Samir Jeraj observes an independent panel settle private rental disputes, including a rare case of a flat with 

'fair rent' controls. Guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 30 October 2012 16.11 GMT 

I arrive at the London Rent Assessment Panel near Goodge Street for a 9:30am hearing. [...] One of 

five Rent Assessment Panels in England, the quasi-judicial body aims to settle disputes between 

private landlords and tenants in London. The hearing room itself is intimate setting with two 

panellists and the involved parties sitting at tables. 

The first case is from a tenant contesting a rise in her current rent, which is just over £600 per 

month for a two-bed flat near Goodge Street. Like much of the property in the area, the lower floors 

have been shops and workshops, with the top floor remaining as a flat for some exhausted Victorian 

or Edwardian shopkeeper to retire to. The landlord, a large property company, gives some 

background. They purchased the whole building a few years ago and with it came the tenant who 

was entitled to stay under the law. The landlord wants to upgrade the flat - the rest of the building 

has been refurbished and they claim the the flat is "very dated". The somewhat unknown condition 

of the flat's interior is the key to deciding how much the rent can be raised. 

The tenant, an articulate woman in her early 40s, gives her own version of the recent history. The 

flat goes back to her uncle, a man who became the tenant there in 1965 when there was still a small 

factory downstairs. She moved in with him and, when he passed away, took on the tenancy herself. 

According to her, the flat has no central heating or fitted kitchen, and the windows and gutters are 

also in a poor condition. […] 

The last hearing is […] one of a dying breed, a historical aberration. The one bed flat is still 

protected by the 1977 Rent Act, one of maybe 100,000 in the UK that operate the rent controls 

subsequently abolished in 1988. Under this Act, rents can only rise by an amount liked to the retail 

price index, what's termed "Fair Rent". Unfortunately, the tenant hasn't turned up, so the panel 

proceeds with the landlord's case. The one-bed flat is in St John's Wood, where a comparable flat 

would be rented out for £24,000 a year. Just nearby on Abbey Road, a similar flat was being 

advertised at £23,900. […] The tenants and landlords will receive a decision notice within 28 days. 

The hearings are over by lunchtime, which means the committee can carry out their visits in the 

afternoon, and decide what the rent should be.