The Attorney General is the Government's principal legal adviser.

Usually a Member of Parliament, they provide advice on a range of legal matters. As well as carrying out various civil law functions, the Attorney General has final responsibility for the Criminal Law. Their deputy is the Solicitor General. Devolution is the decentralisation of governmental power. The most recent examples of devolution are the setting up of the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) is taking forward the Government's proposals on regional governance in England, including directly elected regional assemblies. There are two despatch boxes in each House situated on either side of the Table which separates the Government from the Opposition on the floor of the House. Ministers and shadow ministers stand at the despatch boxes when they speak in the Chamber. The despatch boxes in the House of Commons were presented to the Commons by New Zealand after the post-war rebuilding of the Chamber. Despite their name, the despatch boxes are not used to contain documents or despatches but hold bibles and other items used when Members take the oath. In the House of Commons, after election, an MP must swear an Oath of Allegiance before taking his or her seat. Members who object to oath swearing may make a Solemn Affirmation instead. In the House of Lords the Oath of Allegiance must be taken, or Solemn Affirmation made, by every Lord, on introduction and at the beginning of every new Parliament, before he or she can sit and vote in the House of Lords. While holding a copy of the New Testament (or, in the case of a Jew or Muslim, the Old Testament or the Koran) a Member swears: "I..swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God." The text of the affirmation is: - "I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors according to law". The House of Commons and the House of Lords register their votes on specific motions within debates or in committee by dividing. The results of the vote are referred to as divisions and are recorded in the Official Report (Hansard). In the House of Commons the Speaker calls for a vote by announcing 'Clear the Lobbies'. Division bells ring throughout the building and the police direct anyone who is not a Member to leave the vicinity of the lobbies. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the division lobby before the doors are closed. The division list records how the Members have voted in the Aye and No Lobbies. Tellers count the votes of the division so that they can be printed in Hansard and they are generally available the following day. Party affiliations are not recorded in the division lists. In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby and the announcement 'Clear the Bar' is called. When there is a division (vote) in the House of Commons, MPs leave their seats and walk into whichever division lobby corresponds to the way they want to vote. By tradition, Aye is a 'yes' vote in divisions in the House of Commons. If MPs want to vote yes, they go into the Aye Lobby. The Aye Lobby is the room on the right of the Speaker, behind the Government benches. If they want to vote no, they go into the No Lobby. The No Lobby is the room on the left of the Speaker, behind the Opposition benches. In the House of Lords there is a Contents Lobby and a Not Contents Lobby. The backbenches are the seats where an MP or Member of the House of Lords sits if he or she is neither a minister nor a spokesman for his or her party. The frontbenches are where ministers and their official Opposition spokespersons sit in the Chamber - this is where the term frontbencher or frontbench spokesperson comes from. It reflects the seating arrangements in both Houses as the leaders of the Government and the Opposition sit on the frontbenches, with their supporters, or backbenchers, sitting behind them.

The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod is more usually known simply as Black Rod. Black Rod is responsible for security in the House of Lords. He has a chair in the House of Lords and wears a distinctive black costume. Black Rod's role is similar to that of the Serjeant at Arms in the House of Commons. The Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod acts as the deputy to the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod and assists him with his duties. He also attends to the Lord Speaker in carrying the Mace in and out of the House of Lords chamber. A by-election occurs when a seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant during the lifetime of a Parliament (ie between general elections), because the sitting MP dies, resigns (by applying for the Chiltern Hundreds), is elevated to the peerage, or becomes ineligible to sit for some other reason. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the principal Finance Minister of the Government. The Chancellor is the head of the Treasury and one of the most important members of the Cabinet. He is responsible for coordinating government spending and his duties include preparing and presenting the Budget. Chief whip - The head whip in each political party. Whips are MPs or Members of the Lords appointed by each party to maintain party discipline. Part of their role is to encourage members of their party to?vote in the way that their party would like in important divisions. Whips also manage the pairing system and often act as tellers during divisions. Tellers are the Members who count the votes in the House of Commons and the House of Lords during a division (vote). There are four tellers, two from each side of the House, who are usually also whips. Once the division (voting) is over the tellers announce the results to the House. Pairing is an arrangement where an MP of one party agrees with an MP of an opposing party not to vote in a particular division. This gives both MPs the opportunity not to attend. Pairing is an informal arrangement, however, and is not recognised by the House of Commons' rules. Such arrangements have to be registered with the whips, who check that the agreement is stuck to. Pairing is not allowed in divisions of great political importance but pairings can last for months or years. Parliament gives the Queen and other senior members of the Royal Family an annual sum of money or grant for carrying out official duties. This is called the civil list. The Court of Appeal deals with applications to re-examine the decision made by a lower court. From 1 October 2009, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom assumes jurisdiction on points of law for all civil law cases in the UK and all criminal cases in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. Filibustering is the practice of an MP making a very long speech. This prolongs a debate - the purpose of this is to attempt to prevent a Bill passing through Parliament. MPs who do this hope that the House will run out of time to complete all the stages of the Bill before the session is over. Filibustering was used to great effect by Irish MPs in Parliament in the 19th Century. These MPs wanted independence for Ireland and so held up all kinds of legislation to cause problems for the Government. A general election is when the electors of the country cast their votes to elect Members of Parliament. The Parliament Act 1911 established the maximum life of a Parliament, that is the time between general elections, as 5 years. Once the dissolution of Parliament has been announced, the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery issues Writs of Election. At this time the date of meeting for the new Parliament will also be announced. Although the Government continues in office, there cease to be any MPs and they may not use the facilities of the House while the general election is in progress. At the beginning of a new Parliament the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery will deliver to the Clerk of the House a return book, which lists the Members who won constituency seats and therefore have the right to serve in Parliament.

Hereditary Peers inherit their title and consists of five ranks: Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount and Baron. Peerages may become extinct or fall into abeyance, but so long as there is an heir the title will continue. The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the entitlement of most of the hereditary Peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords and of the 92 hereditary Peers who retain their seat in the Lords, 75 were elected by their fellow hereditary Peers. Highly qualified, full-time judges, the Law Lords carried out the judicial work of the House of Lords until 30 July 2009. The final appeal hearings and judgments of the House of Lords took place on 30 July 2009. The judicial role of the House of Lords as the highest appeal court in the UK has ended. From 1 October 2009, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom assumes jurisdiction on points of law for all civil law cases in the UK and all criminal cases in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. As of 30 July 2009, the 12 Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (the Law Lords) are the first justices of the 12-member Supreme Court and are disqualified from sitting or voting in the House of Lords. When they retire from the Supreme Court they can return to the House of Lords as full Members but newly-appointed Justices of the Supreme Court will not have seats in the House of Lords. The Life Peerages Act 1958 altered the composition of the House of Lords because it introduced more people from different professions, and more women. Before the Act, the House of Lords had been made up exclusively of hereditary Peers. A life Peer differs from a hereditary Peer in that the receiver cannot pass the title on to his or her children. Although life Peers are appointed by the Queen, it is the Prime Minister who nominates them. By convention the Leader of the Opposition and other party leaders can propose a certain number. The Lord Chancellor is one of the most ancient offices of state, dating back many centuries. He is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and is a senior member of the Cabinet. He heads the Ministry of Justice as the Secretary of State for Justice. Previously the Lord Chancellor also acted as Speaker of the House of Lords and therefore sat on the Woolsack. He was also head of the judiciary and the senior judge of the House of Lords in its judicial capacity. However, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Lord Chancellor ceased to be the Speaker of the Lords, and was replaced by the Lord Speaker. In addition, the Lord Chief Justice is now head of the judiciary, and the Lord Chancellor may no longer sit as a judge. Lord Chief Justice is the name given to the judge who presides over the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court. Since the passing of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 the Lord Chief Justice is now Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales, a role previously performed by the Lord Chancellor. In addition, he is President of the Courts of England and Wales and responsible for representing the views of the judiciary to Parliament and the Government. The Lord Speaker is a Member of the House of Lords elected by the House to preside over its proceedings. The Lord Speaker processes into the House at the start of each sitting and presides over debates from the Woolsack. As the House is self-regulating the Lord Speaker has no power to call Members to order, to decide who speaks next or to select amendments. The Lord Speaker is elected for a period of five years, renewable once. Upon election, he or she becomes independent of party politics and is not expected to vote, even in the event of a tie (as the Lords has rules set out for resolving an equality of votes). The post of Lord Speaker was created under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. Previously the Lord Chancellor would preside over debates in the Lords. However, the Lords decided to elect its own Lord Speaker and the first election took place on 4 July 2006. The Lord Speaker is assisted by a panel of Deputy Speakers, who sit on the Woolsack in her absence. Deputy Speakers are all Members of the Lords but may continue to engage in party politics while serving as a Deputy.

The Lords Spiritual are made up of the Archbishops of Canterbury and of York, the Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester as well as specific bishops of the Church of England. The Lords Temporal are made up of hereditary Peers elected under Standing Orders, life Peers, Law Lords, the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain. A mace is a staff of office symbolising authority. The mace is carried in and out of the Commons and Lords Chambers in a procession at the beginning and end of each day. Without the mace in position, each House cannot sit and debate. In the House of Commons the mace lies on the table in front of the Speaker when MPs are debating. The mace is carried in and out of the Chamber by the Serjeant at Arms in a procession at the beginning and end of each day. The House of Lords has two maces dating from the reigns of Charles II and William III. One of the maces accompanies the Lord Speaker into the Chamber where the mace is placed on the Woolsack behind the Lord Speaker when the House is sitting (except at the State Opening of Parliament when the Sovereign is present). Ministers make up the Government and are almost always Members of the House of Commons or the House of Lords. There are three main types of minister: Departmental Ministers, Ministers of State and Junior Ministers. Departmental Ministers are in charge of government departments. The Government is divided into different departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this. Although English is the language used in Parliament some of the formalities of a Bill's passage through Parliament are written in Norman French. This is because these traditions date back to a time just after the Norman Conquest when Norman French was the official language of Government. Many of the words and phrases used are similar to modern day French. Some examples of the use of Norman French are: i) 'A ceste Bille les Seigneurs sont assentus' - used to signify that the House of Lords agrees with a House of Commons Bill ii) 'Ceste Bille est remise aux Seigneurs avecque des raisons' - used when the House of Lords lists the reasons why it does not agree with a House of Commons Bill. The reasons themselves are written in English iii) 'La Reine le veult' - used to show the Royal Assent. Parliamentary privilege grants certain legal immunities for Members of both Houses which allow them to perform their duties without interference from outside the House. The privileges are: Freedom of speech, freedom from arrest (on civil matters), freedom of access to the sovereign and that 'the most favourable construction should be placed on all the Houses's proceedings'. Members are immune from legal action in terms of slander but must adhere to the principles of parliamentary language. Prime Minister's Question Time - The Prime Minister answers questions from MPs in the House of Commons every Wednesday from 12.00pm until the end of Question Time at 12.30pm. Privy Council - Privy Councillors are members of the Queen's own Council: the 'Privy Council'. There are about 500 members who have reached high public office. Membership includes all members of the Cabinet, past and present, the Speaker, the leaders of all major political parties, Archbishops and various senior judges as well as other senior public figures. Their role is to advise the Queen in carrying out her duties as Monarch. In the past Privy Councillors were the chief governing body and fulfilled the role that the Cabinet performs today. During debates in the Commons, MPs who are Privy Councillors are referred to by their colleagues as`The Right Honourable Member'. The Lord President of the Council is a member of the cabinet and is in charge of the Office of the Privy Council. In recent years the role of Lord President of the Council has been linked with the role of Leader of the House of Commons.

The Queen reads the Queen's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament which is held in the House of Lords Chamber. The speech details the Government's policies and the Bills it will introduce in the next session. Once the speech has been read out, the House of Commons returns to their Chamber to debate its contents. This is known as the Debate on the Address. Royal Assent is the Monarch's agreement to make a Bill into an Act of Parliament. The Monarch actually has the right to refuse Royal Assent but nowadays this does not happen and the Royal Assent is a formality. The Serjeant at Arms ensures the order and security of the House of Commons. They are responsible for maintaining order in the Chamber, galleries, committee rooms and precincts of the House of Commons, and the control of access to them. The office of Serjeant at Arms goes back to 1415 and the reign of Henry V when the Serjeant was responsible for carrying out the orders of the House of Commons, including making arrests. Today they perform several ceremonial duties that date back to the early days of the office. They carry the mace in the Speaker's Procession each day and also into the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament. The Serjeant at Arms is the only person in the House of Commons allowed to carry a sword. The Speaker is an MP who has been elected to act as Chairman during debates in the House of Commons. He or she is responsible for ensuring that the rules laid down by the House for the carrying out of its business are observed. It is the Speaker who calls MPs to speak, and maintains order in the House. He or she is elected by MPs in the House of Commons but then ceases to be involved in party politics. The State Opening of Parliament takes place after a general election and at the beginning of each new session of Parliament. Each State Opening is generally set for November. However, after a general election, the following parliamentary session is a long one to allow enough time for legislation to go through. As the House has a break during the summer, a November State Opening of Parliament in the same year as a general election in the spring would leave only four or five months for legislation to go through. Therefore, the next State Opening after an election will not be until some time around November the following year. "To table" refers to when MPs or Members of the Lords hand in questions, amendments to Bills or notices of motions or when a document is formally placed before either House. They are said to be tabled even though they do not actually have to place the document on the table of either House. The Table of the House is the table in each of the Chambers of the House of Commons and House of Lords which lies between the Government and Opposition Front Benches. It is the place where the Clerks sit to look after the administration of the House. In the House of Commons it is also where the Mace is kept when the House is sitting. Documents produced by the Government setting out details of future policy on a particular subject. A White Paper will often be the basis for a Bill to be put before Parliament. The White Paper allows the Government an opportunity to gather feedback before it formally presents the policies as a Bill. Green Papers are consultation documents produced by the Government. Often when a government department is considering introducing a new law, it will put together a discussion document called a Green Paper. The aim of this document is to allow people both inside and outside?Parliament to debate the subject and give the department feedback on its suggestions. Copies of consultation documents such as Green Papers and White Papers which are produced by the Government are available on the related departmental websites. A writ of summons is a document calling Members of the Lords to Parliament. Members of the House of Lords may not take their seats until they have obtained their writ of summons. Writs of summons are issued by direction of the Lord Chancellor from the office of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. New writs are issued before the meeting of each Parliament to all Lords Spiritual and Temporal who have a right to seats in the House.

Before the State Opening of Parliament, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster to ensure that there is no repeat of the Gunpowder Conspiracy, when Guy Fawkes was arrested in the cellars attempting to blow up the Palace. The Yeomen of the Guard are a military corps founded by Henry VII in 1485 and since then they have been the bodyguards of the monarch although their duties today are purely ceremonial

Yeomen Warders of the Tower (Beefeaters)