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English Impeachment
Impeachment is a process in which the Parliament of the United Kingdom may prosecute and try individuals, normally holders of public office, for high treason or other high crimes and misdemeanours. First used to try William Latimer, 4th Baron Latimer, during the English Good Parliament of 1376, it was a rare mechanism whereby Parliament was able to arrest and depose ministers of the Crown. The last impeachment was that of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, in 1806; since then, other forms of democratic scrutiny (such as the doctrine of collective cabinet responsibility and the recalling of members of Parliament) have been favoured, and impeachment has been considered as an obsolete—but still extant—power of Parliament. This is in contrast to several other countries, where impeachment developed into a means to try officeholders for various misdeeds and has become a common process to the present day. Procedure The procedure for impeachment was described in the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Trial Of Warren Hastings, 1788
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Chancellor
The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ranking Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officer of State in Scotland and England, nominally outranking the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister. The lord chancellor is appointed and dismissed by the British monarchy, sovereign on the advice of the prime minister. Prior to the Acts of Union 1707, union of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain, there were separate lord chancellors for the Kingdom of England (including Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland. Likewise, the Lordship of Ireland and its successor states (the Kingdom of Ireland and History of Ireland (1801–1923), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) maintained the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, lord chancellor of Ireland u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgian nobility Canada * Canadian peers and baronets#Canadian nobility in the aristocracy of the United Kingdom, British peerage titles granted to Canadian subjects of the Crown * Canadian peers and baronets#Canadian nobility in the aristocracy of France, Canadian nobility in the aristocracy of France China * Chinese nobility France * Peerage of France * List of French peerages * Peerage of France#Peerage of Jerusalem, Peerage of Jerusalem Japan * Kazoku, Peerage of the Empire of Japan * House of Peers (Japan) Portugal * Chamber of Most Worthy Peers Spain * Chamber of Peers (Spain) * List of dukes in the peerage of Spain * List of viscounts in the peerage of Spain * List of barons in the peerag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Senior Courts Act 1981
The Senior Courts Act 1981 (c. 54), originally named the Supreme Court Act 1981, is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act prescribes the structure and jurisdictions of the Senior Courts of England and Wales (previously known as the "Superior Courts"). These Senior Courts comprise: the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, the Employment Appeal Tribunal, and the Crown Court. Change of name The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 established a new Supreme Court which, on 1 October 2009, replaced the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords. To avoid confusion, the Supreme Court Act 1981 was renamed the Senior Courts Act 1981, and all statutory references to the Supreme Court of England and Wales were amended to refer to the Senior Courts of England and Wales. The former term "Supreme Court" did not mean the 2009 Supreme Court (which, of course, did not exist in 1981), but was shorthand for the "Supreme Court of England and Wales", called before 1981 the " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Prerogative Of Mercy
In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. The royal prerogative of mercy was originally used to permit the monarch to withdraw, or provide alternatives to, death sentences; the alternative of penal transportation to "partes abroade" (lands overseas) was used since at least 1617. It is now used to change any sentence or penalty. A royal pardon does not overturn a conviction. In modern times, by constitutional convention, the prerogative is exercised by the Sovereign on ministerial advice. Those responsible for recommending its exercise are: * the Secretary of State for Justice within England, Wales, and the Channel Islands * the Secretary of State for Defence for offences under military law * the Lieutenant governor of the Isle of Man within the Isle of Man * Scottish Ministers within ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Act Of Settlement 1701
The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, became disqualified to inherit the throne. This had the effect of deposing the remaining descendants of Charles I, other than his Protestant granddaughter Anne, as the next Protestant in line to the throne was Sophia of Hanover. Born into the House of Wittelsbach, she was a granddaughter of James VI and I from his most junior surviving line, with the crowns descending only to her non-Catholic heirs. Sophia died less than two months before Queen Anne, and Sophia's son succeeded to the throne as King George I, starting the Hanoverian dynasty in Britain. The Act of Supremacy 1558 ( 1 Eliz. 1. c. 1) had confirmed the independence of the Church of England from Roman Catholicism under the English monarch. One of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Codified Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these principles are written down into a single document or set of legal documents, those documents may be said to embody a ''written constitution''; if they are encompassed in a single comprehensive document, it is said to embody a ''codified constitution''. The Constitution of the United Kingdom is a notable example of an ''uncodified constitution''; it is instead written in numerous fundamental acts of a legislature, court cases, and treaties. Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from sovereign countries to companies and unincorporated associations. A treaty that establishes an international organization is also its constitution, in that it would define how that organization is constituted. Within states, a constitution def ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pardon
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the jurisdiction. Pardons can be viewed as a tool to overcome miscarriage of justice, allowing a grant of freedom to someone who is believed to be wrongly convicted or subjected to an excessive penalty. The second-best theory of pardons views pardons as second-best to Right to a fair trial, fair justice. Pardons can be granted in many countries when individuals are deemed to have demonstrated that they have "paid their debt to society", or are otherwise considered to be deserving of them. In some jurisdictions of some nations, accepting a pardon may ''implicitly'' constitute an admission of guilt; the offer is refused in some cases. Cases of wrongful conviction are in recent times more often dealt with by appeal rather than by pardon; however, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Blackstone
Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, Justice (title), justice, and Tory (British political party), Tory politician most noted for his ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', which became the best-known description of the doctrines of the English common law. Born into a middle-class family in London, Blackstone was educated at Charterhouse School before matriculating at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1738. After switching to and completing a Bachelor of Civil Law degree, he was made a Fellow of All Souls#Fellowships, fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, on 2 November 1743, admitted to Middle Temple, and called to the Bar there in 1746. Following a slow start to his career as a barrister, Blackstone was involved heavily in university administration, becoming accountant, treasurer, and bursar on 28 November 1746, and Senior Bursar in 1750. Blackstone is considered responsible for completing the All Souls College Library, Codrington Libra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Chief Justice Of England And Wales
The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English and Welsh courts, surpassed by the lord chancellor, who normally sat in the highest court. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 changed the roles of judges, creating the position of President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and altering the duties of the lord chief justice and the lord chancellor. The lord chief justice ordinarily serves as president of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and head of criminal justice, meaning its technical processes within the legal domain, but under the 2005 Act can appoint another judge to these positions. The lord chancellor became a purely executive office, with no judicial role. The equivalent in Scotland is the Lord President of the Court of Session ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Speaker
The Lord Speaker is the presiding officer, chairman and highest authority of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial. Until July 2006, the role of presiding officer in the House of Lords was undertaken by the Lord Chancellor. Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the position of the speaker of the House of Lords (as it is termed in the Act) became a separate office, allowing the position to be held by someone other than the Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor continued to act as speaker of the House of Lords in an interim period after the Act was passed while the House of Lords considered new arrangements about its speakership. The current Lord Speaker is John McFall, Baron McFall of Alcluith. To date four people have held the role. History In 2003, following the decision to di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
