Petition of Right
Petition of Right 1628, a statement of civil liberties sent by the English Parliament to
Charles I. Refusal by Parliament to finance the king's unpopular foreign policy had
caused his government to exact forced loans and to quarter troops in subjects' houses as
an economy measure. Arbitrary arrest and imprisonment for opposing these policies had
produced in Parliament a violent hostility to Charles and George Villiers, 1st duke of
Buckingham. The Petition of Right, initiated by Sir Edward Coke, was based upon
earlier statutes and charters and asserted four principles: no taxes may be levied without
consent of Parliament; no subject may be imprisoned without cause shown
(reaffirmation of the right of habeas corpus); no soldiers may be quartered upon the
citizenry; martial law may not be used in time of peace. In return for his acceptance
(June, 1628), Charles was granted subsidies. Although the petition was of importance as
a safeguard of civil liberties, its spirit was soon violated by Charles, who continued to
collect tonnage and poundage duties without Parliament's authorization and to prosecute
citizens in an arbitrary manner.
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights 1689 is an Act of the Parliament of England (1 Will. & Mar.
sess. 2 c. 2) with the long title An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject
and Settling the Succession of the Crown and also known by its short title, the Bill of
Rights. It is one of the basic documents of English constitutional law, alongside Magna
Carta, the Act of Settlement and the Parliament Acts. It also forms part of the law of
some other Commonwealth nations, such as New Zealand and Canada. A separate but
similar document applies in Scotland: the Claim of Right.
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The Bill of Rights 1689 is largely a statement of certain positive rights that its
authors considered that citizens and/or residents of a constitutional monarchy
ought to have. It asserts the Subject's right to petition the Monarch and the
Subject's right to bear arms for defence. It also sets out (or in the view of its
writers, restates) certain constitutional requirements where the actions of the
Crown require the consent of the governed as represented in Parliament. In this
respect, it differs from other "bills of rights," including the United States Bill of
Rights, though many elements of the first eight amendments to the U.S.
Constitution echo its contents. This is in part due to the uncodified constitutional
traditions of the UK, whereby the English Bill of Rights forms a list of rights in
respect of the people as represented in Parliament, in addition to those rights
already provided for individuals as set out in Magna Carta.
Background
Before William and Mary were affirmed as co-rulers of England and Ireland, they
accepted a Declaration of Rights drawn up by the Convention Parliament which was
delivered to them at the Banqueting House, Whitehall, on 13 February 1689. Having
accepted the Declaration of Rights, William and Mary were offered the throne, and were
crowned as joint monarchs in April 1689. The Declaration of Rights was later embodied
in an Act of Parliament, now known as the Bill of Rights, on 16 December 1689.
In the then separate Kingdom of Scotland, the 1689 Claim of Right of the Scottish Estates
was expressed in different terms, but to a largely similar effect, declaring William and
Mary to be King and Queen of Scotland on 11 April 1689.
Basic tenets
The basic tenets of the Bill of Rights 1689 are:
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Englishmen, as embodied by Parliament, possessed certain immutable civil and
political rights. These included:
o freedom from royal interference with the law (the Sovereign was
forbidden to establish his own courts or to act as a judge himself)
o freedom from taxation by royal prerogative, without agreement by
Parliament
o freedom to petition the Monarch
o freedom from a peace-time standing army, without agreement by
Parliament
o freedom [for Protestants] to have arms for defence, as allowed by law
o freedom to elect members of Parliament without interference from the
Sovereign
o the freedom of speech in Parliament, in that proceedings in Parliament
were not to be questioned in the courts or in any body outside Parliament
itself (the basis of modern parliamentary privilege)
o freedom from cruel and unusual punishments, and excessive bail
o freedom from fines and forfeitures without trial
Certain acts of James II were specifically named and declared illegal on this basis.
The flight of James from England in the wake of the Glorious Revolution
amounted to abdication of the throne.
Roman Catholics could not be king or queen of England since "it hath been found
by experience that it is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this protestant
kingdom to be governed by a papist prince". The Sovereign was required to swear
a coronation oath to maintain the Protestant religion.
William and Mary were the successors of James.
Succession should pass to the heirs of Mary, then to Mary's sister Princess Anne
of Denmark and her heirs, then to any heirs of William by a later marriage.
The Sovereign was required to summon Parliament frequently, later reinforced by
the Triennial Act 1694.
The Bill of Rights 1689 is a predecessor of the United States Constitution, the United
Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on
Human Rights. For example, like the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution requires jury
trials and prohibits excessive bail and "cruel and unusual punishments". Similarly, "cruel,
inhuman or degrading punishments" are banned under Article 5 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human
Rights.