should possess all its rights, together with freedom of elections； (4) London and other towns should retain their traditional rights and privileges, and (5) there should be the same weights and measures throughout the country. Although The Great Charter has long been popularly regarded as the foundation of English liberties, it was a statement of the feudal and legal relationships between the Crown and the barons, a guarantee of the freedom of the Church and a limitation of the powers of the king. The spirit of the Great Charter was the limitation of the powers of the king, keeping them within the bounds of the feudal law of the land. 《大宪章》是约翰国王1215年在封建贵族压力下签定的。《大宪章》
总共63条，其中最重要的内容是：(1) 未经大议会同意，不得征税；(2) 只有根据国家有关法律才能逮捕、监禁自由人以及剥夺他们的财产；(3)教会应享受其所有权利且有选举自由；（4） 伦敦和其它城镇应保留其古时的权力和特权；(5) 全国要使用统一的重量和长度度量衡。尽管人们普遍认为《大宪章》为英国的自由奠定了基础，但该宪章只是规定国王和贵族之间封建关系和法律关系的文件，保证了教会的自由，限制了国王权利。《大宪章》的精神是限制国王权力，使其在英国封建法律允许的范围内活动。
Parliament (Zhu, 32)
The British Parliament consists of three branches: the monarch, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons— outwardly separated, actually interdependent, all involved in the process of legislation. Parliament has the power to make, unmake, or change any law (law-making body). The British law courts have no right to review or abolish any law passed by Parliament. Parliament determines the revenue and expenditures of the government. It provides the means of carrying on the work of government by voting for taxation. Its other roles are to scrutinize government policy, administration and expenditure and to debate the major issues of the day. The term of each Parliament is five years
which is divided into 5 sessions, each lasting one year.
The House of Lords
It consists of the Lords Spiritual (僧侣贵族), who are the Archbishops (bishop of the highest rank, responsible for a large church district, 大主教) and most prominent bishops( senior clergyman in charge of the work of the church in a city or district,主教) of the Church of England; and the Lords Temporal (世俗贵族—上议院的世俗议员，指非主教或大主教的贵族议员 ), which refers to everyone else, to be exact, the peers, generally known as Lords. They sit in the Lords either because they have inherited the seat
from their forefathers ( peerages can only be passed through the male line —hereditary peers) or because they have been appointed by the sovereign, at the suggestion of the Prime Minister( a practice created in 1958). These latter are called life peers which can not be passed to the next generation(终身贵族，1958年英国议会通过了终身贵族爵位法，对那些为英国社会做出杰出贡献的人，由首相提名，王室授封他们为终身贵族，但爵位不能传给后代。) Besides, there are also some Law Lords (a special group chosen to assist the House in its judicial duties上议院法官) Unlike those who serve in the House of Commons, Lords do not receive salaries and many do not attend