THE HOUSE OF LORDS

               The House of Lords is the second chamber of the U.K. Hou­ses of Parliament. Members of the House of Lords are also known as ‘peers’ and consist of Lords Spiritual (senior bishops) and Lords Temporal (lay peers). Law Lords (senior judges) also sit as Lords Temporal. Members of the House of Lords are not elected.

                 In general, the functions of the House of Lords are similar to those of the House of Commons. There are two important exceptions: members of the Lords do not represent constitu­encies and are not involved in matters of taxation and finance. The role of the Lords is generally recognized to be complemen­tary to that of the Commons and it acts as a revising chamber for many of the more important and controversial bills. All bills go through both Houses before becoming Acts, and may start in either House.

                 The House of Lords is also the final court of appeal for ci­vil cases in the United Kingdom and for criminal cases in Eng­land, Wales and Northern Ireland. Only the Lords of Appeal (Law Lords) — of whom there are 12 employed full-time — take part in judicial proceedings.

                  The Speakership of the House of Lords has traditionally been performed by the Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor’s powers as Speaker have been very limited compared with those of the Speaker of the House of Commons

                   Following the House of Lords Act 1999, there are only 92 peers. The majority of members are now life peers and the Government has been consulting on proposals for further re­form of the Lords.

                   There were 689 peers in total in 2003. Members of the House of Lords, as I said before, are not elected and, with the exception of bishops who leave the House on retirement, they retain their seats for life.

QUESTIONS:

1. What is the second chamber of the British Parliament?

2. How are the members of the House of Lords also called?

3. What are the functions of the House of Lords?

4. Do the Lords represent constituencies?

5. What is the final court of appeal for civil cases in the United Kingdom?

6. Who traditionally performs the Speakership of the House of Lords?

7. How many peers Were there in the Parliament in total in 2003?

VOCABULARY:

the House of Lords — Палата лордов (верхняя палата бри­танского парламента)

chamber — палата

peer — лорд, пэр

lords spiritual — духовные лорды, «владыки духовные»

lords temporal — светские лорды (наследственные пэры)

Law Lords — судебные лорды, лорды-судьи

to elect — избирать (голосованием)

similar — подобный; похожий, сходный

to legislate — издавать законы, законодательствовать

constituency — избиратели, электорат; избирательный округ

to involve — втягивать, вовлекать

to recognize — признавать, одобрять

complementary — добавочный, дополнительный

to revise — проверять; исправлять

controversial — спорный, сомнительный

bill — законопроект, билль (то, что вносится в парла­мент)

to appeal — апеллировать, обращаться, прибегать, взы­вать

the Lords of Appeal — лорды-судьи по судебным апелля­циям

to employ — предоставлять работу; нанимать

judicial — судебный; законный, принадлежащий закону

proceeding — акт, действие, дело, поступок

to perform — исполнять, выполнять

the Lord Chancellor — лорд-канцлер (глава судебного ве­домства и верховный судья Англии, председатель Палаты лордов и одного из отделений Верховного суда)

proposal — предложение; план

bishop — епископ

retirement — выход в отставку; уход на пенсию; отход от дел