Вопрос № 1078100 - Английский язык

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Capital Punishment
1. The ultimate penalty is death (capital punishment). Although most countries still have a death penalty, 62 (including almost every European nation) have abolished it; 18 retain it only for exceptional crimes such as wartime offences; and 27 no longer carry out executions even when a death sentence has been passed. In other words, almost half the countries of the world have ceased to use the death penalty.
2. Supporters of capital punishment believe that death is a just punishment for certain serious crimes. Many also believe that it deters others from committing such crimes. Opponents argue that execution is cruel and uncivilized. Capital punishment involves not only the pain of dying but also the mental anguish of waiting, sometimes for years, to know if and when the sentence will be carried out. Opponents also argue that there is no evidence that it deters people from committing murder any more than imprisonment does. A further argument is that, should a mistake be made, it is too late to rectify it once the execution has taken place.
3. As the debate about capital punishment continues, the phenomenon of death row (people sentenced but still alive) increases. The debate also involves the question of what punishment is for. Is the main aim to deter? This was certainly the case in the 18th century England when the penalty for theft was supposed to frighten people from stealing and compensate for inabilities to detect and catch thieves. Is it revenge or retribution? Is it to keep criminals out of society? Or is it to reform and rehabilitate them?
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Opponents of death penalty believe that it …

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Capital Punishment
1. The ultimate penalty is death (capital punishment). Although most countries still have a death penalty, 62 (including almost every European nation) have abolished it; 18 retain it only for exceptional crimes such as wartime offences; and 27 no longer carry out executions even when a death sentence has been passed. In other words, almost half the countries of the world have ceased to use the death penalty.
2. Supporters of capital punishment believe that death is a just punishment for certain serious crimes. Many also believe that it deters others from committing such crimes. Opponents argue that execution is cruel and uncivilized. Capital punishment involves not only the pain of dying but also the mental anguish of waiting, sometimes for years, to know if and when the sentence will be carried out. Opponents also argue that there is no evidence that it deters people from committing murder any more than imprisonment does. A further argument is that, should a mistake be made, it is too late to rectify it once the execution has taken place.
3. As the debate about capital punishment continues, the phenomenon of death row (people sentenced but still alive) increases. The debate also involves the question of what punishment is for. Is the main aim to deter? This was certainly the case in the 18th century England when the penalty for theft was supposed to frighten people from stealing and compensate for inabilities to detect and catch thieves. Is it revenge or retribution? Is it to keep criminals out of society? Or is it to reform and rehabilitate them?
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The House of Commons
1. The House of Commons, the centre of parliamentary power, is directly responsible to the electorate. From the 20lh century the House of Lords has recognised the supremacy of the elected chamber. The House of Commons is traditionally regarded as the lower house, but it is the main parliamentary arena for political battle. A Government can only remain in office for as long as it has the support of a majority in the House of Commons.
2. New legislation usually starts in this House which has primacy over the non-elected House of Lords. «Money bills», concerned solely with taxation and public expenditure, are always introduced in the Commons and must be passed by the Lords promptly and without amendment. When the two houses disagree on a non-money bill, the elected chamber prevails.
3. A Member of Parliament (MP) is elected by a particular area or constituency in Britain to represent them in the House of Commons. MPs have many duties that involve them in different activities. A lot of MPs’ work has nothing to do with voting in Parliament. MPs are there to help people and to try to make sure their rights under the law are not violated. Some MPs hold an advice bureau in their constituencies, where people can go for help and recommendation.
4. The presiding officer in the House of Commons is the Speaker. He is responsible for ensuring that the rules laid down by the House for the carrying out of its business are observed. He acts as the House's representative in its relations with outside bodies and the other elements of Parliament such as the Lords and the Monarch. The Speaker is elected by MPs in the House of Commons but then ceases to be involved in party politics. Even after retirement a former Speaker shall not take part in political issues.
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In what way is the government dependent on the lower chamber?

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British Constitution
1. In England there is no one document or fundamental body of law that can be described as a “constitution”. The absence of any such document or of any distinction between public and private law has led to the suggestion that there is no constitution in England. Certainly the English constitution has no existence apart from the ordinary law; it is indeed part of that very law. The Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, the Habeas Corpus Act, the Bill of Rights, and the Act of Settlement are the leading enactments; but they are in no sense a constitutional code; and, without a host of judicial decisions, other statutes of much less importance, and a mass of custom and convention, these statutes would be unworkable.
2. The sources of English constitutional law are statutes, judicial precedent, textbooks, law books, the writings of historians and political theorists, the biographies and autobiographies of statesmen, the columns of every serious newspaper, the minutiae of every type of government record and publication. This is what is meant by saying the English constitution is «unwritten»: it is not formally enacted; its rules have to be sought out in a dozen fields, not in any one code.
3. Similarly, it is flexible, and here the contrast is with a rigid constitution. There are no special safeguards for constitutional rules; constitutional law can be changed, amended, or abolished just like any rule of private law; there is no field in which Parliament is forbidden to legislate; there are no fundamental or unalterable ideologies and no procedures to prescribe delay or extra processes for constitutional change.
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Why is British constitution considered to be flexible?

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The Prime Minister
1. The Prime Minister is the most senior officer of Her Majesty’s Government. The full title of the office is Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, and Minister for the Civil Service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Prime Minister's main responsibilities include: running the Government; appointing Cabinet Ministers and other ministers; coordinating the activities of the Cabinet and Government Departments; appointing judges, creating Life Peers and making appointments to senior positions in the Church of England; leading the majority party; being the «face» of the government in the UK and abroad.
2. The Prime Minister is technically appointed by the Monarch. The appointment takes place after the results of a General Election indicate which political party wins the majority of seats in the House of Commons. After a General Election, the Queen calls upon the leader of the largest party to officially appoint him to a post of a Prime Minister, who then forms the Government and the Cabinet.
3. In theory, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a primus inter pares (first among equals) in the British Cabinet. In appointing a Cabinet the Prime Minister generally includes members of parliament who have political bases of their own and who could potentially be a rival of the Prime Minister. However, in practice, a strong Prime Minister can so dominate government that he becomes a «semi-president», and fulfils the leadership role in a country in the same way as presidents do.
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How is the Cabinet formed?

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New Civil Code Keeps State Out of Inheritance Coffers
1. The state will no longer inherit the property of almost every second Russian citizen as it has in years past after an inheritance law went into effect broadly expanding the number of relatives recognized as heirs.
2. The law, part of a new Civil Code, permits not only direct relatives – grandparents, parents and children – to claim the property of the deceased, but also cousins and their direct relatives. The law also permits a Russian to leave his possessions to legal entities, local and federal agencies and even foreign organizations and governments.
3. Belongings will only go to the state if no one makes a claim within six months of the owner's death. Earlier, the state inherited property in about one in every two deaths. The new inheritance rules will encourage Russians to write wills – a practice that remains rare – and will finally provide the courts with detailed guidance to deal with inheritance lawsuits.
4. Under the new law, a will can now be written outside of a notary’s office and then delivered there in a sealed envelope by the benefactor to be opened after his or her death. Registration of a will with the public notary currently costs 100-170 rubles ($3 to $6). Where notaries are unavailable, a will is legally binding if signed by two witnesses.
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