Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. Officially the head of the state is the king or queen. The power of the monarch is not absolute but constitutional. The monarch acts only on the advice of the ministers.

The hereditary principle upon which the monarchy is founded is strictly observed. The now reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth, II is a descendant of the Saxon king Egbert.

The monarch, be it king or queen, is the head of the executive body, an integral part of the legislature, the head of the judicial body, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the crown, the head of the Established Church of England and the head of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

 

The Constitution

Practically speaking, there is no written constitu­tion in Great Britain. The term "English Constitu­tion" means the leading principles, conventions and laws, many of which have been existing for centu­ries, though they have undergone modifications and extensions in agreement with the advance of civiliza­tion. These principles are expressed in such docu­ments of major importance as Magna Сarta, a fa­mous document in English history agreed upon in 1215 by King John and the barons, which set cer­tain limits on royal power and which was later re­garded as a law stating basic civil rights; Habeas (pus Act, a law passed in 1679, which guarantees to a person arrested the right to appear in court justice1 so that the jury2 should decide whether or not guilty or not guilty; The Bill of Rights, an act Parliament passed in 1689, which confirmed certain rights of the people; the laws deciding the success}] of the royal family4, and a number of constitution acts, separate laws and agreements.