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為何英格蘭沒(méi)有地方議會(huì)？
[ 2007-03-02 16:28 ]
The United Kingdom is said to have a unitary state with a devolved system of government. This contrasts with a federal system, in which sub-parliaments or state parliaments and assemblies have a clearly defined constitutional right to exist and a right to exercise certain constitutionally guaranteed and defined functions and cannot be unilaterally abolished by Acts of the central parliament.
The government has no plans to establish an English parliament or assembly although several pressure groups are calling for one. One of their main arguments is that MPs (and thus voters) from different parts of the UK have inconsistent powers. Currently an MP from Scotland can vote on legislation which affects only England but MPs from England (or indeed Scotland) cannot vote on matters devolved to the Scottish parliament. Indeed, current Home Secretary John Reid, who is an MP for a Scottish constituency, runs a department which deals primarily with England and Wales. This anomaly is known as the West Lothian question.
The policy of the UK Government in England was to establish elected regional assemblies with no legislative powers. The London Assembly was the first of these, established in 2000, following a referendum in 1998, but further plans were abandoned following rejection of a proposal for an elected assembly in North East England in a referendum in 2004. Unelected regional assemblies remain in place in eight regions of England.
除了位于倫敦的英國(guó)上議院外，現(xiàn)在蘇格蘭、威爾斯和北愛(ài)爾蘭都擁有自己的議會(huì)，這些議會(huì)中的部分議院是按照比例代表制選舉產(chǎn)生的。雖然這些二級(jí)政府擁有部分立法等方面的權(quán)限，他們的權(quán)力還是無(wú)法足夠大到能與英國(guó)議會(huì)抗衡。三個(gè)地方議會(huì)之間的權(quán)限大小也各不相同。例如，蘇格蘭議會(huì)擁有立法權(quán)，而威爾斯議會(huì)政府則只能決定具體如何使用由中央政府分配給威爾斯的預(yù)算。此外，這些議會(huì)的存在不受憲法保障，它們的具體權(quán)責(zé)范圍也可由英國(guó)議會(huì)決定增大或縮小。
因此，英國(guó)被認(rèn)為是一個(gè)權(quán)力下放的單一制國(guó)家。這與聯(lián)邦制國(guó)家是不同的。在聯(lián)邦制國(guó)家中，地方議會(huì)的地位得到憲法承認(rèn)，其權(quán)限范圍和職責(zé)都有明確保障，中央議會(huì)無(wú)權(quán)隨意剝奪這些權(quán)力。
英國(guó)政府目前的政策是繼續(xù)下放中央權(quán)力。但在英格蘭，并沒(méi)有建立英格蘭議會(huì)和政府的計(jì)劃，雖然有一些團(tuán)體力主如此。他們抗?fàn)幍睦碛芍皇莵?lái)自不同地方的議員的權(quán)利有所不同，蘇格蘭的議員可以對(duì)英格蘭事務(wù)的法律投票，但英格蘭的議員卻無(wú)權(quán)參與蘇格蘭議會(huì)的事務(wù)。比如說(shuō)，現(xiàn)在的內(nèi)政大臣John Reid，是代表蘇格蘭的議員，就可以領(lǐng)導(dǎo)一個(gè)主管英格蘭和威爾士事務(wù)的部門。
英國(guó)政府對(duì)英格蘭的態(tài)度是允許英格蘭建立民選的政府，但沒(méi)有立法權(quán)。建立于2000年的倫敦政府（London Assembly）就是第一個(gè)這樣的政府，它也是1998年全民公決的成果。但2004年，東北英格蘭的全民公決否定了建立政府的提議，所以在英格蘭其他各地，目前仍是非民選的政府在管理當(dāng)?shù)氐氖聞?wù)。
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