Anglais - The British Constitution or An Original Constitutional Framework !

Anglais

Chapter n°3 : The British Constitution or An Original Constitutional Framework !

› The most important legal texts of the British Constitutional History !

I – Historical Context until 1215

› Each of the texts dealt with in the chapter was enacted as a result of a conflictual period :

• When there was popular disagreement with the Sovereign’s excessive use of power.

• Later, when the power of a few (The hereditary peers = The Nobility) threatened the development of a real democracy.

› Each pf these texts deeply modified the Constitutional Organization of the Kingdom.

› Until 1066 : Authoritarian Divine Power of the Saxon King.

› After the arrival of Willian the Conqueror over the Throne of England in 1066, things did not really change : Justice was rendered locally (= In an Unfair and Unreliable way) or by the Sovereign himself (Like St-Louis in France).

Until the 13th Century (and even later in fact) the Sovereign’s decisions were felt excessive and autocratic, dictated by the King’s fantasies or cruelty rather than by common sense = The first Constitutional texts in Britain aims at disputing and restricting the Sovereign’s supremacy.

II – The “Magna Carta” 1215

› Accepted and enacted by King John of England.

› Sponsored and gained by the barons (=The Nobility) who wanted to preserve their privileges.

› Incomplete because it only protected the rights of a limited proportion of the population and not everybody’s rights.

› Also limited in scope because it did not aim at establishing a new system but only at improving the existing one.

› One of the most important basis of English Law :

• First denial ever of the Divine Right of the King (The King himself is not above of the Law of Land).

• The “Magna Carta” also introduced fundamental concepts of judicial thinking.

• Art 39 of the “Magna Carta” : “No free man shall be arrested or imprisoned or dispossessed or outlawed or harmed in any way save by lawful judgment of his equals under the Law of the Land”.

= Denial of the excessive Divine Power of the King and claim for a fair system of Justice (With Courts of Law).

› Other important concession by the King :

• Art 2 : Succession Rights.

• Art 6, 7 and 8 : Marriage and Widowhood.

• Art 14 : Council of the Kingdom = Embryo of Parliament.

• Art 18 to 20 : First Courts of Law.

III – The Bill of Rights (1688)

› Transition Period : Mostly a Status-Quo !

• Constitutional development was slow during the Middle-Ages.

• It was difficult to react against the sovereign’s authority.

• The King of England remained very powerful.

› Transition Period : Some Practical Improvements !

• The sovereign was often reminded that he should not feel entrusted with a “Divine” power (Existence of the Magna Carta).

• 1628 : Petition of Rights to urge Charles I to act as a responsible leader and to respect individual rights.

› Thanks to the legislative activity of Parliament, the Habeas Corpus Act was passed in 1679 : It aimed at limiting further the royal whims and fantasies the way Justice was rendered.

› Transition Period : Some Legal Improvements !

• Parliament came into real existence and its activity developed gradually.

• 1679 : Habeas Corpus Act aiming at limiting royal whims and desires in the rendering of Justice.

= The Habeas Corpus Act affirmed the authority of the Courts of Law.

= It also established the right for an arrested man to exercise his legal rights.

“… a prisoner should be brought before the courts with a minimum of delay…”

› The Habeas Corpus Act :

• Stopped the powers of the Sovereign in the field of Justice.

• Affirmed the authority of the Courts of Law.

• Established the right for an arrested person to exercise their legal rights (“… a prisoner should be brought before the courts with a minimum of delay…”)

• Gave Britain its reputation of “Land of Freedom”.

• Remains a strong protection of the individual rights still today.

› The Habeas Corpus Act gave Britain its reputation of “Land of Freedom”.

› It is an important protection of the individual rights that is still valid today.

› Appeared at a period when legislation was already mostly passed by Parliament and when the King did not rule over his kingdom in an absolute tyrannic way anymore.

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