Parliament Of Great Britain Research Articles

Autonomous Car as a Source of Damage: Civil Law Aspect

The purpose of the article is to determine the civil legal features of an autonomous car as a source of damage. When developing a computer program responsible for driving an autonomous car, the issue of its compliance with ethical standards (morality) should be resolved. That is, to develop the ethics of artificial intelligence taking into account the priority in the selection of the population of a particular region. It is noted that there is a legislative basis for the use of autonomous cars in many states (the USA, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France and Germany). Ukraine has no legislation allowing such self-driving cars to be used on the roads of the country, where a driver must steer a car. According to automobile experts, the use of autonomous cars in Ukraine is also impossible due to the unsatisfactory state of its roads. It was concluded that the technology of development and use of autonomous cars should be supervised by the Government by developing uniform requirements both for the cars and the software. Such a document was adopted by the Parliament of Great Britain. The issue of compensation for damage caused by such a vehicle is decided in accordance with the Civil Code of Ukraine. It has been concluded that an autonomous car is a special vehicle as it is controlled by a computer. Neither the car manufacturer nor its software developer can be regarded as subjects of civil liability for the damage caused by an unmanned car. This conclusion is grounded on the fact that autonomous car is a source of increased risk as it has the following features: damage-causing properties; impossibility of complete control on the part of the person over the manifestation of damage-causing properties of material objects; increased probability of causing the damage. The subject of civil liability for damage caused by an autonomous car as a source of increased danger is a person who, on an appropriate legal basis, owns the vehicle. The owner of an autonomous car has the right to apply with a reverse claim (regression) to his manufacturer due to defects of the goods.

Британский парламент о союзнических отношениях с Россией в годы Первой мировой войны

Британский парламент о союзнических отношениях с Россией в годы Первой мировой войны

‘Rendering the Union more Complete’: The Squadrone Volante and the Abolition of the Scottish Privy Council*

The 22nd article of the Treaty of Union had settled the Scottish representation in the parliament of Great Britain. Although both the old and the new parties had readily agreed to modify its terms before the union came into effect most Scots blamed the new party for this unpopular amendment. As well as evading this censure the old party was also able to use the union to consolidate its grip on the government of Scotland. Intensely annoyed at this the new party retaliated by arguing that Scottish institutions should be remodelled along English lines. The first step was the abolition of the Scottish privy council. When it failed to persuade Lord Treasurer Godolphin to assist, the new party, or the Squadrone as it was now more commonly known, turned to the whig junto. It was eager to oblige and a bill to abolish the council was introduced during the first session of the British parliament. Godolphin's hesitant response to the Squadrone and the junto was criticised by the northern secretary of state, Robert Harley. He appealed to the duke of Marlborough for help, but this merely intensified the differences with Godolphin. Harley also turned to the queen and with her approval took the unprecedented, and unusual, step of supporting abolition in the house of commons. Although this brought the disagreement with Godolphin to a head, the lord treasurer responded with a vigorous, but unsuccessful, attempt to amend the bill in the Lords. The court's failure was quickly forgotten, however, as most Scots damned the Squadrone for once more betraying its country.

Scotland's sovereignty asserted: the debate over the Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707

Scotland's sovereignty asserted: the debate over the Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707* With the parliamentary union between Scotland and England in 1707, two independent realms, the separate crowns of which had forjust over a century been worn by the same monarchs, became one United Kingdom of Great Britain. A new political entity, which was to form the basis of the British Empire, was born. The successful completion of the negotiations and the passage of the Acts of Union in both parliaments united the two crowns and theoretically entailed the dissolution of two national parliaments and the creation of a supra-national parliament—the parliament of Great Britain. But the new 'British' parliament was in fact simply an enlarged English parliament,towhich a limited number of Scots members were admitted. As the Scottish historian William Ferguson has noted, 'Scotland lost her sovereignty in both theory and practice, in theory so did England, but not in practice'.1 The union was simply one possible solution to the perennial problem of Anglo-Scottish relations which had remained strained after the Union of Crowns of 1603. This Regal union had disadvantaged the northern kingdom; when the Stuarts inherited the English throne the political centre of gravity moved down to London. For most of the seventeenth century British kings had put the interests of their wealthier English kingdom before those of Scotland. By the end of the century, Scotland, embroiled in England's continental wars and suffering from the effects of the English navigation acts and the Darien fiasco, was on the brink of financial disaster. As the wealth and power of the court increased under William of Orange and then Anne, so did Scottish resentment of the impact of English policy on Scottish affairs. By 1703 the relationship between the kingdoms had reached breaking point. The death of Anne's last surviving heir in 1700 had opened up the vexed question of the succession. The English Act of Settlement of 1701, which accepted the Hanoverian claim, had angered the Scots by its arrogant assumption that Scotland would automatically follow England's lead in the matter, and the resumption of war with France—a war into which Anne had entered Scotland without consulting her Scottish parliament—further fuelled resentment. Union * I am grateful to Dr John Robertson for pointing out several errors of interpretation and directing m y attention towards important aspects of the Scottish intellectual context which I had neglected in my original analysis. The errors and omissions that remain are m y own. Thanks are also due to Glen Burgess, for asking the right questions, to Andrew Sharp for his valuable criticism and advice, and to the anonymous referees for their very useful comments. 1 Ferguson, cited in P. H. Scott, The Union of Scotland and England in Contemporary Documents with a Commentary, Edinburgh, 1979, p. 53. P A R E R G O N ns 11.2, December 1993 28 B. McPhail negotiations, encouraged by William and focussing on the possibility of free trade, had begun in 1702, but had rapidly ground to a halt, mainly because of England's lack of enthusiasm. Anti-court and, by extension, anti-English feeling scaled such heights in Scotland that it briefly united the country's warring factions and manifested itself in political action which threatened the stability of both nations. The Scottish election of 1703, called reluctantly because of a tax boycott and the need to raise supply, had returned a House in which the court party was seriously weakened. The succession question gave a briefly united opposition a golden opportunity to redefine the constitutional relationship with England in Scotland's favour. Its parliamentary majority resulted in the successful passage of the Act of Security and Succession, reluctantly given the Royal Assent in 1704. The Act declared that the Union of Crowns would cease on the death of Anne unless Parliament had by that time placed limitations on the monarchy sufficient to protect Scotland from future English interference through the court.2 In addition, the Act provided for the regular mustering of the militia. Scotland had thrown down the gauntlet, and England lost no time in picking it up. She would countenance neither...

Spirituality without Inwardness

Theologians are not generally aware of the influence of the concept of spirituality in education. Is it not remarkable, not to say amazing, for example, that the secular Parliament of Great Britain should pass a bill listing ‘spiritual development’ as the first aim of the school curriculum?1 But educationists are not generally aware of the rich heritage of thought about spirituality in Christian faith and practice. And one is also tempted to say that theologians and educationists do not read much material from philosophy about ‘spirit’ and ‘spirituality’. Yet spirituality is too important to be confined to narrow treatments in separate academic disciplines.

The Parliament of Great Britain: A Bibliography. By Robert U. Goehlert and Fenton S. Martin. (Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath, 1983. Pp. xvi + 209. $24.95.)

The Parliament of Great Britain: A Bibliography. By Robert U. Goehlert and Fenton S. Martin. (Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath, 1983. Pp. xvi + 209. $24.95.)

A Study of Conflict in Northern Ireland: An Application of Metagame Theory

This paper summarizes a study of the conflict in Northern Ireland using the particular analytic technique of metagame theory known as the analysis of options. Four major alternative political structures were identified and the relative stability of each was analyzed. The alternatives were: (1) a United Ireland, (2) Dominion status or legislative independence for Northern Ireland, (3) Colonial status with a legislative Assembly subordinate to the British Government, and token representation at Westminster, (4) an integrated Parliament of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Alternatives (2) and (3) were evaluated with and without a Council of Ireland or other link with the Republic of Ireland. The results suggest the most stable structure would be Dominion status for Northern Ireland with constitutional guarantees for participation by minorities in the processes of government.

Jeremy Gridley, Editor

EREMY GRIDLEY is remembered chiefly as the Crown Attorney who in 1761 opposed his former pupil, James Otis, in the famous debate over the granting of the Writs of Assistance. Otis is remembered as a fiery patriot, though of course in 1761 he was an incipient revolutionist. From time to time Gridley has been branded as a Tory, but unbiased historians generally agree that in defending the British claim he was simply doing his duty as the duly appointed attorney for the Crown, and, in the words of John Adams, another of his law students, everything that could be said in favor of Cockle's petition; all depending, however, the 'if the Parliament of Great Britain is the sovereign legislature of all the British Empire.' 1 Before he became famous as a lawyer, however, Jeremy Gridley was known to his fellow Bostonians as a young man of literary tastes and as an editor. In his thirty-first year he established a paper called The Weekly Rehearsal, which, like its contemporary, The New England Weekly Journal, but unlike the more prosaic News-Letter, frequently contained essays on various subjects. The first issue appeared September 27, 1731, and writers the subject generally agree that Gridley's original contributions continued for at least six months. Isaiah Thomas, the historian of early American printing, states that before the termination of one year, its original essays were discontinued, and it had become a mere vehicle of intelligence. 2 This statement is not entirely accurate, as will be shown. The one thing that is certain about Gridley's connection with the paper is that he retained

Hudson's Bay Company Lands and Colonial Farm Settlement on the Mainland of British Columbia 1858-1871

Farming operations in the British possessions to the west of the Rocky Mountains and north of the 49th degree, prior to the year i858 (after amalgamation with the North West Company in 1821), were confined exclusively to the agricultural projects of the Hudson's Bay Company at its trading posts and, incidental thereto, the occupation of lands convenient to the posts by servants of the company. The most noticeable of such latter instances were in the vicinity of Fort Kamloops. The privilege of using the land was naturally exercised by the company under the assumption that the right of trade with the Indians carried with it the right to occupy lands at the trading posts and at the same time to occupy farming areas for production of crops to sustain the occupants of the posts and animals engaged in carrying supplies to and from the forts. Until the gold rush of the year 1858 there had been no statutory authority for the administration of public affairs except by the Hudson's Bay Company, under its license for exclusive trade with the Indians. When that authority was revoked on September 2, i858, under authority of An Act to provide for the Government of British Columbia ' enacted by the Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland on August 2, 1858, the company, through its chief factors, John Wark and Dugald Mac-

Recent Changes in The Local Government of England And Wales

The purpose of this article is to describe the principal provisions of the Local Government Act recently passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, and to give some account of the forces behind the changes, without in any way touching on the controversies of political parties. The hand and brain of man have speeded up life; social conditions change ever more rapidly, and social institutions must change with them, those of government included, though some seem to believe that they are as the rocks of the ages. The Local Government Act contains 138 sections and 12 schedules, and there is room in this paper for only the more important of its provisions.There has been in Britain for many years a steady stream of discussion, indeed at times floods, on needed changes in the structure of local government. Minds were prepared, therefore, for reforms, even if some people had almost come to the conclusion that the obstacles would prevent more than proposals. Whatever the differences of political parties, there has been a current of continuity in the development of local government throughout the big changes of the last century. Political wind and weather may have given a twist to a branch here and there, but the main outline of the old tree has been fixed by deeper causes; the big changes have been produced by underlying social conditions, independent of party; and the Local Government Act, in most of its provisions, will be found to be in line with this continuity, whatever the conflicting views on matters of detail.