Anglais juridique

 TD Droit Anglais

TD 1

Introduction

Britain’s key moments and figures

1. Battle of Hastings (Bayeux Tapestry) 🡪 Normans versus English: the Normans were lead by William the conqueror. He decided to invade England for the land and to retrieve the crown because he is the legitimate heir of the crown; it was his crown that was stolen by the English king Harold. The Normans defeated the English and William killed king Harold. He stayed and ruled on England and on Normandy. As a Norman king, he brought to England Norman culture and traditions, Norman language, legal traditions and they exported the Norman models of forts that were made of stone and rock (the English forts were made of wood). In 1066 🡪 this period was called the Norman conquest of England.

1. Magna Carta 1215 🡪 a legal or constitutional document. A constitution is usually about fundamental laws and the citizens’ rights, and it also describes the different branches of power. The Magna Carta is the power of the king. Before the Magna Carta, the king was absolute, but the document limited the power of the monarch and increased the power of the “Parliament”. Over the years, the power of the monarch is being reduced. The document is considered as a source of the constitution. At the time, the parliament concerned the Lords, the nobles. In 1215 we became members of the parliament by having money, by hereditary, by owning land.

1. Henry VIII (1491-1547) and Elizabeth I (1533-1603) 🡪

She’s his daughter. They are 2 important monarchs. He has other children: Mary and Edward. Henry is remembered as an exceptional monarch because he married 6 times, which is exceptional in the 16th century, because it wasn’t legal to divorce at the time. It wasn’t even a concept yet; there weren’t laws about it. He managed to obtain divorce by breaking up with the catholic pope who didn’t agree with the divorce. He became Protestant, established the Church of England, and became its chief. He wanted to divorce because he wanted to have boys, since girls weren’t strong enough in his eyes to become good monarchs and rulers of Britain (sexism). Because of that, he had an obsession with the idea of having male heir. He didn’t stop marrying after getting Edward because his wife died. He went on and married again to have more boys. Two of the wives were divorces and 2 were executed (accused of being competitors). When he died, the 6th wife remained and Edward became king. However, he died soon after without any kids.

The crown was passed on to his daughter Mary. The first she did was the reestablishment of the catholic religion. If the people didn’t obey and convert, they would be prosecuted. This is why she’s called Bloody Marry (she had so many people executed. In a way, she started a religious war. She also died without heir.

Elizabeth then became queen. She reestablished the Church of England by having a lot of people prosecuted and executed. She managed in the end to pacify the country and bring peace. She brought prosperity and economic development. She was queen for 44 years and was considered as a very good monarch. She promised herself never to marry and never to have children, because her father traumatized her. Therefore, she also did not have an heir 🡪 it’s the end of the Tudors, the crown will go to another branch of the family.

1. Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and Queen Elizabeth II (1926) 🡪

They have the record of longevity (the longest reign): Victoria 63 years and Elizabeth II 67 years (1952), the oldest living monarch in the world. This brings stability to the nation.

Queen victoria 🡪 she is considered as a remarkable queen because she created the largest colonial empire ever (India, Canada, Australia, Asia…). The English controlled 1/5 of the world. At the time, she was the most powerful woman in the world. The colonies generated a mass of revenue, which brought prosperity, economic development and trade. This is why her period is called the golden age. Another element that characterizes this period is the industrial revolution of the 1860s (electricity, steam engines, trains…) 🡪 transport innovation, textile industry, machines…She is the head of the Church: she is supposed to defend its values, which were conservative and strict, especially to woman. She promoted a strict form of morality (there was always moral judgment). She promotes the act of caning at schools. She was given the most prestigious title: empress of India.

1. 6. Winston Churchill (2 terms: 1940-1945/1951-1955) and Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990)

They are both former Prime Ministers.

Thatcher: the first female Prime Minister of England, the first female European leader. She was elected 3 times: longest serving Prime Minister.

TD 2

British Identity

• The EU referendum 🡪 the UK EU membership referendum took place to ask the electorate if the country should remain a member of, or leave the EU, under the provisions of the EU Referendum.
• A defeated Prime Minister 🡪 Boris Johnson, current Prime minister of the UK who is pro-Brexit, is on the verge of losing his seat to Jeremy Bernard, a British politician serving as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition since 2015, who is against Brexit.
• Downing Street 🡪 in September 2019, Boris Johnson gave his first speech as a British Prime Minister on the steps of Downing Street, where he argued that the U.K. should not delay its exit from the EU.
• Only southern Ireland has ever broken away, in 1922 🡪 in 1922 was established the Irish Free State under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. That treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between the forces of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and British Crown forces.
• Nicola Sturgeon 🡪 is a Scottish politician who is currently serving as the fifth First Prime Minister of Scotland.
• Martin McGuinness 🡪 was an Irish Republican politician who, as a member of Sinn Féin, was the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from May 2007 to January 2017
• The Brexit reveals how deeply divided our supposed “One Nation” has become 🡪 with the Brexit, Scotland, England and Ireland have been falling apart from each other, because Scotland and Ireland feel strongly against Brexit, whereas the UK is very much pro-Brexit. We even notice divisions happening inside the UK.
• The MP’s expenses scandal in 2009 🡪 it was a major political scandal, concerning expenses claims made by members of the UK Parliament over the previous years. The disclosure of extensive misuse of allowances and expenses permitted to Members of Parliament (MPs) provoked extensive anger among the UK public and resulted in a large number of resignations, sackings, de-selections and retirement announcements together with public apologies and the repayment of expenses.
• The Conservative Party, too, is more divided today 🡪 it is a center-right political party in the UK. Whether Boris Johnson negotiates with the EU or ignores parliament and continues with the no deal Brexit, his party will never be the same again.
• There still are many elements of unity, such as a common language, a common history, a common geography, and last but not least, a common set of values, a belief in the rule of law, a sense of fair play and decency.

CONCLUSION:

The British have multiple identities, it is complex, and it is not easy to define one specific identity 🡪 it is a melting pot of people and it became a globalized nation with the British Empire.

Defining identity can lead to stereotyping, which is dangerous because it leads to exclusion.

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