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LESSON 1
THE BRITISH ADMINISTRATIVE
SYSTEM
1 HISTORICAL OUTLINE
The first attempt of an administrative action in England was the Domesday Book. It is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states: While spending the Christmas time of 1085 in Gloucester, William had deep speech with his counsellors and sent men all over England to each shire to find out what or how much each landholder had in land and livestock and what it was worth. The primary purpose of the survey was to ascertain and record the fiscal rights of the king. In 1154 Henry II became King of England. He is remembered as a great king, a great reformer, founder of the English Common Law and the creator of administration and justice. His first task was to reduce
the power of the barons, which he did with the help of professional soldiers. Knights could now pay the king a sum of money, instead of giving service; with this money, the king was able to hire mercenaries. In order to administer justice, he sent travelling judges round the land to the largest towns in each county. The Law they administered became known as “ common law ” because it was used everywhere. In other part of Europe, legal practice was based on the Civil Law of the Roman Empire and the Canon Law of the Church; English lawyers, instead created an entirely different system of law based on custom, comparisons, previous cases and previous decisions. This mixture of experience and custom is the basis of law in England even today. Richard I succeded his father, Henry II in 1189. He spent less than a year of his reign in England because he left for the Holy Land to take part in the Third Crusade. During his absence, his brother John tried to usurp his place and became king when Richard died. But he was very unpopular because of the constant increase of taxes. In 1215 the barons rebelled and war was over when the king agreed to sign the Magna Carta Libertatum. The Great Charter, called in Latin Magna Carta , established a council of 25 barons to see John kept to the clauses, like protection
2.Right to a fair trial. 3.People who are taxed should have some kind of representation. The Magna Carta "established a number of important principles, which have been copied around the world. It inspired the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Another cornerstone in the shaping of the nation was the Bill of Rights of 1689, signed by William III and his wife Mary, at the time of the Glorious Revolution. The Bill of Rights lays down limits on the powers of the monarch and sets out the rights of Parliament, including the requirement for regular parliaments, free elections, and freedom of speech in Parliament. It sets out certain rights of individuals including the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment and reestablished the liberty of Protestants to have arms for their defence within the rule of law. These ideas about rights reflected those of the political thinker John Locke and they quickly became popular in England. It also sets out—or, in the view of its drafters, restates—certain constitutional requirements of the Crown to seek the consent of the people, as represented in Parliament.
In the United Kingdom, the Bill of Rights, together with the Petition of Right, the Habeas Corpus Act 1679 and the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, is considered as the basic documents of the uncodified British constitution. A separate but similar document, the Claim of Right Act 1689, applies in Scotland. The Bill of Rights of 1689 inspired the United States Bill of Rights. Along with the Act of Settlement in 1701, the Bill of Rights is still in effect in all Commonwealth realms. Nowadays the central government is organized in departments. Most of the civil servants work in operative agencies, belonging to their departments. The Treasure Minister and the Cabinet office (in particular the office of Civil Service) have an important role in the functioning of the central government and in the coordination for reforms. Despite the concentration of powers in the government and the parliament, in the UK, there has never been a uniform bureaucracy. It is interesting to notice the difference with France. While France could strengthen the control on the territory thanks to the role of the “Prefect”, the UK could consolidate it, from the xv century onwards, through an opposite process of collaboration with the noblemen and the local powers in the political life and in the system of
England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; the union between England and Scotland occurred with the Act of Union in 1707 Constitution It consists of a series of legal documents, including certain acts of the UK and New Zealand Parliaments, as well as The Constitution Act of 1986, which is the principal formal charter, adopted on 1st January 1987. Legal system Common Law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences 3 ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION Historically, the national divisions of the UK have been the county and the ecclesiastical parish. England is divided into nine regions and 48 ceremonial counties, although these have only a limited role in public policy. For the purposes of local government, the country is divided into counties, districts and parishes. In some areas, counties and districts form a two-tier administrative structure, while in others they are combined under a unitary authority Region 9 Ceremonial county 48 Metropolitan county 6 Non-metropolitan county 77 District 326 Parish 4. The highest level subdivisions of England are the nine regions. The London region, known as Greater London, is further divided into the City of London and 32 London boroughs. This is administered by the Greater London Authority, including the directly-elected London Assembly. The other regions are made up of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties and unitary authorities. The counties are further divided into districts (which can be called cities, boroughs, royal boroughs, metropolitan boroughs or districts). The unitary authorities effectively combine the functions of counties and districts. Below the district level, civil parishes exist, though not uniformly. Parish or town councils exist for villages and small towns; they only rarely exist for communities within urban areas.
Commonly, though not administratively, England's geography is divided into ceremonial counties, which in most areas closely mirror the traditional counties. Each ceremonial county has a Lord Lieutenant, who is the monarch's representative Regions East Midlands East of England Greater London North East North West South East South West West Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber The UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK is home to 60 million people. Great Britain was the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century. At its height, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. As member of the EU, it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the time being. The Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999. 4 LEGAL STRUCTURE The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy, based on universal suffrage. It is also a constitutional monarchy in which ministers of the Crown govern in the name of the Sovereign, who is both Head of State and Head of the Government. There is no ‘written constitution’. Instead, the relationship between the State and the people relies on statute law, common law and conventions. Following devolution, the responsibilities of the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland changed considerably, although they retain their positions in the UK Cabinet. They ensure that the reserved interests of the countries they represent are properly considered in central government and they lead the presentation of government policy in their parts of the UK. They are also responsible for safeguarding and promoting the devolution settlements of their respective countries. 5 LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The House of Lords is the final point of appeal and a small number of cases each year may be referred to the European Court of Justice, which has jurisdiction on matters of European Community law. All appeals to the House of Lords are about the meaning of the law, rather than the evidence in a case. The Court of Appeal also sits at the Royal Courts of Justice. The Criminal Division hears appeals from Crown Court cases, while the Civil Division receives appeals from the High Court, tribunals and, in certain cases, county courts. The work is handled by three divisions: (i) chancery division: equity, trusts, tax, bankruptcy; (ii) queen’s bench division: contract, tort, commercial matters; and (iii) family Division: divorce, children, probate. In addition, there are county courts, division courts and administrative courts. Court of Justice of the EU House of Lords Court of Appeal Criminal Division Court of Appeal Civil Division Crown Court High Court Magistrates Court County court Arbitration may be used as an alternative proceeding to legislation. So instead of bringing an action in a Court of Law, the parties may agree to submit a dispute to arbitration and even if it is not a court process, the final decision of the arbitrator will be binding on the parties to the dispute (Arbitration Act, 1996) 8 local government Local authorities work within the powers laid down under various Acts of Parliament. Their functions are far-reaching. Some are mandatory, which means that the authority must do what is required by law. Others are discretionary, allowing an authority to provide services if it wishes. The main link between local authorities and central government is the Prime Minister Office of the Deputy. However, other departments, such as the Department for Education and Skills, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department of Health and the Home Office, are also concerned with various local government functions. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, local authorities now deal mainly with the devolved Parliament and Assemblies. About two million people are employed by local authorities in the UK. These include school teachers, the police, firefighters and other non-manual and manual workers. Education is the largest locally-provided service, with 0.9 million full-time equivalent jobs. Councils are individually responsible, within certain legislative requirements, for deciding the structure of their workforces. Every part of the UK is covered by a local authority fire service. Each of the 59 fire authorities must by law provide a firefighting service and must maintain a brigade to meet all normal requirements. Each fire authority appoints a Chief Fire Officer, or Firemaster in Scotland, who has day-to-day control of operations. In June 2003, responsibility for the overall management of relations between the UK Government and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has moved from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) to the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA). ODPM remains responsible for the English region. The highest priority was given to the creation of a Parliament in Scotland and a National Assembly for Wales because the demand for decentralization in these countries was strong.
9 THE STATE AND THE CIVIL SOCIETY Ombudsperson The Office of Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Parliamentary Ombudsman) was created in 1967. During the next ten years other public sector ombudsmen were appointed, so that by the end of the 1970s there were parliamentary, health and local government ombudsmen services in each country of the British Isles. In 1981 the Insurance Ombudsman Bureau, the first private sector ombudsman scheme, was created .It was followed by many others in the private sector. In 2001 a number of voluntary schemes (banking, building societies, insurance and investment) were brought together to form a statutory Financial Ombudsman Service. There are many public and private ombudsmen that have been incorporated in the United Kingdom Ombudsman Association and became the British and Irish Ombudsman Association when membership was extended to include ombudsmen from the Republic of Ireland in 1994. Civil Society Non-governmental organizations in Britain are numerous. They include: (i) charities – organizations of volunteers regulated by the government (“The Charities Commission”) and receiving tax benefits to carry out public services, e.g., the Royal National Lifeboat Institution; (ii) trades unions – which represent the labour interests of members, e.g., Unison, the union for public sector workers in local authorities; (iii) professional bodies – such as the Law Society that regulates the profession of lawyers; (iv) pressure groups – that stand for economic interests, e.g., the Confederation of British Industry; (v) thinktanks – such as the Fabian Society– that argue specific policy lines; (vi) nondepartmental public bodies – that use public money in a public context but are only loosely controlled by Ministers, such as the Sports or Arts Councils. Civil Service The civil service has no separate constitutional responsibility. The constitutional and practical role of the civil service in Great Britain is to help the Government of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales formulate their policies, carry out decisions and administer public services for which they are responsible. A separate Northern Ireland Civil Service was created in 1921 to serve the local administration. Its present role is to support the Northern Ireland Executive in the administration of public services for which it has responsibility. The UK Civil Service commissioners derive their responsibilities and powers from the Civil Service Order in Council (1995) and the Diplomatic Service Order in Council (1991). They have two responsibilities: to maintain the fundamental principle in recruitment to the Civil Service of selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, including the approval of appointments by recruitment to the most senior levels in the Civil Service and to hear and determine appeals under the Civil Service Code. The public administration is entirely subject to the law but there is no specific Civil Service Act or legal provision that prescribes specific duties or rights to public servants. The Civil Service Code, introduced in 1996, is a concise statement of the role and responsibilities of civil servants. It was revised in 1999 to take account of devolution. The Code includes an independent line of appeal to the Civil Service Commissioners. The Commissioners derive their responsibilities and powers from the Civil Service Order in Council (1995) and the Diplomatic Service Order in Council (1991).
own decisions and actions, Cabinet Office is responsible for ensuring that the Civil Service as a whole meets the Government's commitment to achieving greater representation of minority ethnic staff, women and staff with disabilities at senior levels.
