Magna Carta

The Magna Carta (or “Great Charter”) is classified by the United Nations as a document of global significance and has been placed on the UNESCO "Memory of the World" register. It records an agreement reached between John, King of England, and a group of English Barons at a place called Runnymede on the banks of the Thames near Wallingford on 15th June 1215. A copy made at the time is available at the British Library in London, and may be viewed on line, together with an English translation. .

It is now regarded as one of the founding documents of the British constitution. At the time, however, it was mainly concerned to redress current grievances against the King as a means of resolving a political crisis, and was of negligible constitutional importance. .

Only three of its original clauses are still part of English law. One defends the freedom and rights of the English church, another confirms the liberties and customs of London and other towns. Clause 3 states that:

"No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled . nor will we proceed with force against him . except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice."

Among the clauses since repealed, clause 61 states that

"Since we have granted all these things for God, for the better ordering of our kingdom, and to allay the discord that has arisen between us and our barons, and since we desire that they shall be enjoyed in their entirely, with lasting strength, for ever, we give and grant to the barons the following security: The barons shall elect 25 of their number to keep, and cause to be observed with all their number to keep, and cause to be observed with all their might, the peace and liberties granted and confirmed to them by this charter. . . ."

Clause 3 , by its statement of legal rights, forms one of the founding principles of the English legal system, and Clause 61, by establishing the concept of an independent body with power over the conduct of government, to represent the interests of the country, is a precursor of the establishment of parliament as an instrument of representative government.