The Magna Carta

Magna Carta (Latin, “Great Charter”), document sealed by King John of England on June 15, 1215, in which he made a series of promises to his subjects that he would govern England and deal with his vassals according to the customs of feudal law. Over the course of centuries, these promises have required governments in England (and in countries influenced by English tradition) to follow the law in dealing with their citizens. The Magna Carta of 1215 contains 63 clauses. The first restates the charter that John issued in 1214, which had granted liberties to the Church. In many clauses John promises to be less harsh in enforcing his feudal rights on the barons, and another clause states that the barons must grant to their tenants all the feudal concessions that the king has made to them. Many clauses concern the legal system; in these John promises to provide good and fair justice in various ways. The last few clauses concern enforcement of the document.

The two most important clauses of Magna Carta are among the legal clauses. Clause 40 promises, “To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice. ” This clause establishes the principle of equal access to the courts for all citizens without exorbitant fees. In clause 39, the king promises, “No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or outlawed or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we go or send against him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. ” This clause establishes that the king would follow legal procedure before he punished someone. Historians have debated at length the meaning in 1215 of “by lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land, ” and who exactly was covered by the term “free man. ” By the later 14th century, however, statutes interpreting the Magna Carta equated “judgment of peers” with trial by jury (which did not exist in criminal cases in 1215). Other statutes rephrased “by the law of the land” as “by due process of law. ” These later statutes also substituted “no one” or “no man of any sort or condition” for “no free man, ” which extended the protections of the clause to all the king’s subjects. These protections were cited in many founding documents of the American colonies and were incorporated into the Constitution of the United States. By most accounts only clauses 39 and 40 of the Magna Carta remain valid law in England. Eventually, the other clauses became outmoded and some were repealed. Nonetheless, the Magna Carta remains a major document in the history of individual liberty. The document establishes the principle that no person, not even the king, is above the law. More specifically, this means that the government must follow its own laws in its dealings with its citizens, just as citizens must obey the law in their dealings with other citizens.

In the Britain, United States and many other English-speaking countries, the law of Habeas Corpus guarantees that nobody can be held in prison without trial. Habeas Corpus became a law because of a wild party held in 1621 at the London home of a notoriously rowdy lady, Alice Robinson. When a constable appeared and asked her and her guests to quiet down, Mrs. Robinson allegedly swore at him so violently that he arrested her, and a local justice of the peace committed her to jail. When she was finally brought to trial, Mrs. Robinson's story of her treatment in prison caused an outcry. She had been put on a punishment diet of bread and water, forced to sleep on the bare earth, stripped, and given 50 lashes. Such treatment was barbaric even by the harsh standards of the time; what made it worse was that Mrs. Robinson was pregnant.

. Public anger was so great that she was acquitted, the constable who had arrested her without a warrant was himself sent to prison, and the justice of the peace was severely reprimanded. And the case, along with other similar cases, led to the passing of the Habeas Corpus Act in Britain in 1679. The law is still on the British statute books, and a version of it is used in the United States, where the law was regarded as such an important guarantee of liberty that Article 1 of the Constitution declares that " Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended except in cases of rebellion or invasion". Habeas Corpus is part of a Latin phrase - Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum - that means " Let the body be brought before the judge. " In effect, a writ of Habeas Corpus is an order in the name of the people (or, in Britain, of the sovereign) to produce an imprisoned person in court at once.

Упр. 1. Соотнесите выделенные слова в тексте и их перевод в упражнении:

1. мировой судья

2. ордер на арест

3. варварское отношение

4. недовольство общественности

5. заключить в тюрьму

6. вызвать гневный протест

7. привести к принятию закона

8. получить строгий выговор

9. предстать перед судом

10. быть оправданным

11. судебный процесс, суд

Упр. 2. Соотнесите термин и его дефиницию:

1. trial

2. writ

3. statute

4. warrant

a) a written law of the country;

b) legal paper ordering someone to do/not to do something;

c) court case to judge a criminal;

d) written official paper permitting the police to arrest someone or to search someone’s dwelling.

Упр. 3. Задайте вопросы, для которых следующие утверждения были бы ответами:

1. The law of Habeas Corpus guarantees that nobody can be held in prison without trial.

1. Habeas Corpus became a law because of a wild party held in 1621 at the London home of one rowdy lady.

2. That lady’s name was Alice Robinson.

3. The officials in prison treated Mrs. Robinson cruelly.

4. Public anger was so great that she was acquitted.

5. The Habeas Corpus Act was passed in Britain in 1679.

6. The translation of that phrase from Latin means “ Let the body be brought before the judge”.

Упр. 4. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. What case led to the passing of the Habeas Corpus Act?

2. When and where was it ratified?

3. What does the Act guarantee?

4. How do we translate the Latin phrase “Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum” into Russian?