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Title: The British Constitution View count: 166 Rating: 3.0 (2 ratings) Description: Magna Carta - 1215: The Magna Carta is an English legal charter, originally issued in the year 1215. It was written in Latin and is known by its Latin name. The usual English translation of Magna Carta is Great Charter. Magna Carta required King John of England to proclaim certain rights (pertaining to freemen), respect certain legal procedures, and accept that his will could be bound by the law. It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether free or fettered — and implicitly supported what became the writ of habeas corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment. Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects (the barons) in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. It was preceded by the 1100 Charter of Liberties in which King Henry I voluntarily stated that his own powers were under the law. Bill of Rights - 1689: The Bill of Rights limited royal power and established the supremacy of Parliament, which remains today. Most of the rights covered had been raised before, notably under the Petition of Rights, but not all had been enshrined in law. These included: - the king could not suspend or create laws without the consent of parliament - the king could not raise taxes by royal prerogative or without the consent of parliament - the king could not raise a standing army in peace time without the consent of parliament - the people can petition the king without being prosecuted - parliaments should be held frequently The Bill dealt mostly with constitutional matters, but it did include a few civil rights, which only applied to Protestants. Two were of particular significance. - Freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in parliament ought not to be questioned in any court or place out of parliament. This is a crucial parliamentary privilege first raised by Thomas More and agreed by Henry VIII in 1523, and still in operation today - Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law. This was the basis of the "right to bear arms" in the American constitution. In 1694 the maximum life of each parliament was set at three years, changed to seven years in 1716, to five years - its current level - in 1911. Visit the British Constitution Group - Fighting to reassert our Constitution and the rule of law : https://www.thebcgroup.org.uk/ Tags: brian, gerrish, common, purpose, know, thy, self, magna, carta, case, for, treason, bc, group, bnp, nick, griffin, british, national, party, immigration, uk, islam, choudary, sharia, law, european, union, constitution, lisbon, treaty, ratify, ireland, no, vote, nwo, history, english, civil, war, freeman, bill, of, rights, Author: GoodFightLad |
