UK assignment

Petition of rights 1628

The asserted infringement of individual rights by the Crown overshadowed not
only routine legislative business but also other grievances pressed by Charles I's
subjects. Parliamentary debate respecting individual liberty during the spring of
1628 was shaped by arguments of a distinctively legal character.
The ‘liberty of the subject1’ was infringed. In response to this tyranny, the
parliament passed the petition of rights which prohibited the king from
infringing the basic liberties of the subjects.
Need for the Petition of rights
The thirty years war lasted from 1618-1648. During this time the religious
tensions grew between Protestants and Catholics of the Christian religion.
Frederick V of the Palatine who reigned as a King of Bohemia was married to
King Charles I of England sister which invoked direct involvement and funding
as well as warfare strategies of the British.2
King Charles supported Frederick financially for which he took taxes from his
subjects. Charles’s predecessor, King James had done the same thing and had
put severe financial strains on the British subjects. It was expected that Charles
would not do the same.
In April 1925, on the first summon of the Parliament in front of the new king
Charles it was clear that things would not change as he demanded £700,000 for
prosecuting the war. The Parliament agreed to grant only £112,000 and the
House of Commons refused his this demand, while the House of Lords due to
other reasons, rejected the bill as a whole. Thus Charles dissolved the
Parliament and started raising ‘forced loans’3
Those not paying the loans were imprisoned without trail. This misdemeanour
on behalf of the monarch was royal extortion.4
Sir Edward Coke began drafting the bill with its four main proposals;
1. Imprisonment was illegal, except under law.
2. Habeas corpus should be granted to anyone, whether they are imprisoned
by the King or the Privy Council.
3. Defendants could not be remanded in custody until the crime they were
charged with was shown.
1
Concept of legal liberty, Glanville Williams, vol. 56 pg. 1129
2
St. Andrews research Repository, England English and the Thirty Years War
3
http://www.oxfordreference.com
4
The legal dictionary
 4. Non-Parliamentary taxation such as the forced loans was illegal.
Significance
The attempt of a small group of common lawyers in the Lower House in 1628
to establish a secure legal mechanism for the protection of individual liberty
constitutes the lasting significance of the petition.5 The monarch at that time lost
sight of the limitations of their power and were successfully reminded the
limitations of power that separated them from the circle of tyranny.
Furthermore, this bill also helped in the future modelling of other rules of the
constitutional monarchy of the English.
Bill of rights
The Bill incorporated into law the growing conviction that although some
people may inherit privileges, all women and men enjoy the same basic rights
which can not be violated even by a Head of State, who is also subject to, the
law. The Bill also took the view that the Heads of State, and others in authority,
have responsibilities towards the governed, and that they are answerable to the
people, not to themselves.
The bill of rights limits the powers of the monarch giving England a more
democratic colour. It resulted due to the tyranny of King James II, the last
catholic king of England.
The need for Bill of Rights
King James II of England was strictly catholic and promoted Catholicism by
stopping protestant movements and anti-Catholicism strategies. During his reign
there were struggles over religious tolerance.
Many rising rebellions and revolts led James to keep a large number of standing
armies causing troubles in towns. Even more alarming to Parliament was
James's use of his dispensing power to allow Roman Catholics to command
several regiments without having to take the oath mandated by the Test Act.
When even the previously supportive Parliament objected to these measures,
James ordered Parliament prorogued in November 1685, never to meet again in
his reign. Furthermore he gave majority of the Head offices and powerful
positions to Catholics.
In fear that Crown may fall in the hands of the Catholics and a catholic dynasty
may begin if King James’s son gets the throne. Some parliamentarians secretly
invited Protestant William of Orange who was married to King James II’s
daughter Mary to take over the throne.

5Habeas Corpus and "Liberty of the Subject": Legal Arguments for the Petition of Right in the Parliament of 1628
Author(s): Linda S. Popofsky
In the Glorious Revolution, William III of Orange landed with his army in
England on November 5, 1688. James II attempted to resist the invasion. He
then sent representatives to negotiate, and he finally fled on December 23, 1688.
Before William and Mary were affirmed as co-rulers of England and Ireland,
they accepted a Declaration of Right drawn up by the Convention Parliament
which was delivered to them at the Banqueting House, Whitehall, on February
13, 1689. Having accepted the Declaration of Right, William and Mary were
offered the throne, and were crowned as joint monarchs in April 1689. The
Declaration of Right was later embodied in an Act of Parliament, now known as
the Bill of Rights, on December 16, 1689.6
Its provisions were as follows;
Articles 1 and 2 of the English Bill of Rights; Laws should not be dispensed
with, or suspended, without the consent of parliament.
Articles 4 and 6 of the English Bill of Rights; No armies should be raised in
peace time and no taxes levied, without the authority of parliament.
Articles 13 and 8 of the English Bill of Rights; Parliament should be frequently
summoned and that there should be free elections.
Article 9 of the English Bill of Rights; Members and Peers should be able to
speak and act freely in Parliament.
Articles 10 of the English Bill of Rights; Excessive bail ought not to be
required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments
inflicted.

Act of Settlement;
The act of Parliament that, since 1701 has regulated the succession to the throne
of Great Britain (June 12, 1701)7
The Act of Settlement of 1701 was designed to secure the Protestant
succession to the throne, and to strengthen the guarantees for ensuring a
parliamentary system of government. 8
The act of settlement reinforced the Bill of rights.

Historical Background;
King William and Mary were now the monarchs but were not able to
produce any children and William was dying, this ultimately brought the

6
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/English_Bill_of_Rights
7
https://www.britannica.com/event/Act-of-Settlement-Great-Britain-1701
8
Royal act of settlement.co.uk
crown to the possession of Queen Mary’s sister Anne, but she died shortly
afterwards.
The Parliament then decided to keep the crown within protestant faith and
Princess Sophia of Hanover was to be made Queen, but she died before
Queen Anne and so the crown passed to her son George who became King
George I.

The Act also laid down the conditions under which the Crown could be
held. No Roman Catholic, nor anyone married to a Roman Catholic, could
hold the Crown. The Sovereign now had to swear to maintain the Church of
England (and after 1707, the Church of Scotland).

The Act of Settlement not only addressed the dynastic and religious aspects
of succession, it also further restricted the powers and prerogatives of the
Crown.

Under the Act, parliamentary consent had to be given for the Sovereign to
engage in war or leave the country, and judges were to hold office on good
conduct and not at Royal pleasure - thus establishing judicial
independence.

The Succession to the Crown Act (2013) amended the provisions of the Bill
of Rights and the Act of Settlement to end the system of male
primogeniture, under which a younger son can displace an elder daughter in
the line of succession. The Act applies to those born after 28 October 2011.
The Act also ended the provisions by which those who marry Roman
Catholics are disqualified from the line of succession. The changes came
into force in all sixteen Realms in March 2015. 9

9
www.royal.uk/act-settlement