As we come to the end of 2015, the 800th Anniversary of Magna Carta, it is appropriate to reflect on all that has been said and written about this ancient document and its legacy of legal rights and rule of law.
The most famous clause has received much attention and is still in English law today:
‘No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, nor will we go or send against him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.’
The same is true for freedom of the Church of England:
FIRST, We have granted to God, and by this our present Charter have confirmed, for Us and our Heirs for ever, that the Church of England shall be free, and shall have all her whole Rights
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THE City of London shall have all the old Liberties and Customs [which it hath been used to have]. Moreover, We will and grant, that all other Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and the Barons of the Five Ports, and all other Ports, shall have all their Liberties and free Customs.
Leading up to 1215 and the issuance of Magna Carta, the Norman conquerors of England had established a strict feudal system in which the measure of wealth was land. London, and other cities did not fit into this system because the Normans did not appreciate the value of trade.
Rulers in 13th century England were in constant need of money to fund their wars. By providing those funds, London and other cities persistently negotiated rights and freedoms not available to others in England. Commerce became the means by which Anglo-Saxons recovered certain freedoms and established a role in governing England.
London was particularly strategic during the 1215 rebellion. The walled city controlled the only stone bridge across the Thames. If an army wished to invade from Europe, it would land at Dover and have to cross that bridge. As the clouds of war gathered in the spring of 1215, King John prudently granted London the right to choose its own mayor in return for only a promise that the mayor would be faithful to the
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Londoners had the right to administer their own courts and to raise money to fund the operation of the City. These rights, accumulated over time, were replicated in boroughs and towns throughout England creating, in effect, an early code of municipal law.
As early as 1129, the citizens of London negotiated with King Henry I for the right to choose their own Sheriff. Henry ultimately granted the City its first charter confirming the right of Londoners to choose their own Sheriff to preside over courts and collect taxes in return for promising the Crown 300 pounds a year in taxes. The Sheriff of London conducted proceedings both in the local court and in serious matters, which were conducted by royal judges in other jurisdictions. London courts were also permitted to deal with land, debts, wills, orphans, and apprentices.
Londoners had the right to be tried by their own courts. If accused of an offence outside the city they could choose to be tried for that offence in London courts. Among other benefits, London courts protected residents from “trial by battle” which was favoured by the Norman