CURS 11

THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

Unitatea de învăţare:
1. The House of Commons
2. The Parliament of Romania

Bibliografie:
1. Badea, Simina, Legal English - A Practical Approach, Editura Universitaria, Craiova,
2014, p. 51-52, 55-56.
2. Lister, R.; K. Veth, Dicţionar juridic român-englez, englez-român, Traducere: Roxana
Dinulescu, Editura Niculescu, Bucureşti, 2010.
3. *** Oxford Dictionary of Law, 6th edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006.

Obiectivele modulului
Dupǎ studiul acestei unitǎţi de învǎţare veţi reuşi sǎ:
 înţelegeţi cum funcţionează Parlamentul britanic (Camera Comunelor) pentru a
putea face o paralelă cu cel al României
 vă familiarizaţi cu termenii juridici aferenţi temei prin activităţi aplicative
 vă dezvoltaţi abilităţile de comunicare în limba engleză pe tema dată
 vă familiarizaţi cu elementele predate prin activităţi aplicative
 vă dezvoltaţi abilităţile de comunicare în limba engleză pe teme cu caracter
juridic

The House of Commons

It is the representative chamber of Parliament, also known as the Lower House.
The UK public elects 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent their interests
and concerns in the House of Commons. This number may vary within certain limits in case
the boundary commission proposes constituency changes.
The Commons is publicly elected. The party with the largest number of members in
the Commons forms the government.
Members of the Commons (MPs) debate the big political issues of the day and
proposals for new laws. It is one of the key places where government ministers, like the Prime
Minister and the Chancellor, and the principal figures of the main political parties, work. MPs
can scrutinise government policies by asking ministers questions about current issues either in
the Commons Chamber or in Committees.
The Commons alone is responsible for making decisions on financial Bills, such as
proposed new taxes. The Lords can consider these Bills but cannot block or amend them.
The House of Commons is governed and managed by the group of MPs who make up
the House of Commons Commission, chaired by the Speaker of the House of Commons, a
sitting MP elected to the position of Speaker through a ballot of all MPs. The other members
are the Leader of the House, the Shadow Leader of the House (or another MP appointed by
the Opposition) and three backbench MPs from the three largest parties.
The Commission provides the non-executive governance of the House by Members,
but it does not manage day to day operations.

The Parliament of Romania

The Parliament of Romania is bicameral, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and
the Senate, a fact dictated by the need to ensure a balance in the exercise of the parliamentary
functions, by the requirement to debate the laws adopted, and to temper the authoritarian or
extremist tendencies of a Chamber, in the appreciation of a state of fact, and in the selection
of the decisional version. The institution of Parliament highly depends on constitutional
principles.
Based on a list system and independent candidatures, the two Chambers are elected in
constituencies, by universal, equal, direct, secret, and freely expressed suffrage, thus meeting
the requirement of proportional representation. The option for an identical election system of
the two Chambers of Parliament confers them the same legitimacy, as both of them are the
expression of the will of the same electoral body.
The number of Deputies (332) and Senators (137) to be elected in each constituency is
determined on the basis of the representation norm, by relating the number of inhabitants in
each constituency to the representation norm. In a constituency, the number of Deputies
cannot be less than 4, and that of Senators, less than 2. The number of inhabitants taken into
account is that existing on July 1 of the previous year, published in the Statistical Year-Book
of Romania. If, at least 5 months before the election date, a general census took place, the
number of inhabitants taken into account is that resulting from the census.

Concluzii:
The House of Commons is the representative chamber of Parliament, also known as
the Lower House.
Its members represent the interests and concerns of the UK public.
The Commons is publicly elected. The party with the largest number of members in
the Commons forms the government.
Members of the Commons (MPs) debate the big political issues of the day and
proposals for new laws.
The Commons alone is responsible for making decisions on financial Bills, such as
proposed new taxes.

Test de autoevaluare:
1. Election to the House of Commons. – 2 puncte
2. Role of the House of Commons. – 2 puncte
3. The House of Commons Commission. – 2 puncte
4. What is the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons? – 2 puncte
5. Which is the relation of the House of Commons to the House of Lords? – 2 puncte

Traduceri:
1. Art. 77
(1) Legea se trimite, spre promulgare, Preşedintelui României. Promulgarea legii se
face în termen de cel mult 20 de zile de la primire.
Răspuns: A law shall be submitted for promulgation to the President of Romania.
Promulgation shall be given within twenty days after receipt of the law.

2. Art. 77
(2) Înainte de promulgare, Preşedintele poate cere Parlamentului, o singură dată,
reexaminarea legii.
(3) Dacă Preşedintele a cerut reexaminarea legii ori dacă s-a cerut verificarea
constituţionalităţii ei, promulgarea legii se face în cel mult 10 zile de la primirea legii adoptate
după reexaminare sau de la primirea deciziei Curţii Constituţionale, prin care i s-a confirmat
constituţionalitatea.
 Art. 78
Legea se publică în Monitorul Oficial al României şi intră în vigoare la 3 zile de la
data publicării sau la o dată ulterioară prevăzută în textul ei.

Grile:
1. The House of Commons is:
a. also known as the Higher House
b. also known as the Lower House
c. the non-representative chamber of Parliament

2. The House of Commons is:

a. publicly elected
b. appointed
c. secretly elected

3. Together with the House of Lords, the Commons:

a. makes laws, holds government to account and debates investigate policy issues
b. only passes laws
c. scrutinises government policies

4. The Commons alone is responsible for:

a. passing laws
b. approving Bills
c. making decisions on financial Bills

5. The House of Commons is governed and managed by:

a. the House of Commons Board
b. the House of Commons Commission
c. the House of Commons Council