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British Bill of Rights

 

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British Bill of Rights



 
  The British Bill of Rights can refer to:

  • The Bill of Rights 1689
    Bill of Rights 1689

    The Bill of Rights is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England, whose long title is An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown....
     - An Act of the Parliament of England
    Parliament of England

    The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. Its roots can be traced back to the early medieval period. In a series of developments, it came increasingly to constrain the power of the King of England, and went on after the Act of Union 1707 to merge with the Parliament of Scotland and form the main basis of the Pa...
     made following the Glorious Revolution
    Glorious Revolution

    The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of British monarchy James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliament of England with an invading army led by the Dutch Republic stadtholder William III of England , who as a result ascended the English throne as William III of England....
    , considered one of the fundamental parts of the British constitution
    Constitution of the United Kingdom

    The constitution of the United Kingdom is the set of laws and principles under which the United Kingdom is governed.The UK has no single constitutional document comparable to those of other nations, such as the Constitution of the United States....
    .


  • The Claim of Right Act 1689
    Claim of Right Act 1689

    The Claim of Right is an Acts of Parliament passed by the Parliament of Scotland in April 1689. It is one of the key documents of constitution of the United Kingdom law....
     - An Act of the Parliament of Scotland
    Parliament of Scotland

    The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Independence Kingdom of Scotland.The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early thirteenth century, and the first meeting for which reliable evidence survives was at Kirkliston in 1235, during the reign of A...
     which enacted the same principles as the Bill of Rights in England into Scottish law.


  • A proposed Bill of Rights
    Bill of rights

    A Bill of Rights is a list or summary of rights that are considered important and essential by a nation. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement by the government....
     for the United Kingdom
    United Kingdom

    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
     enshrining human rights into British law, either to complement or replace the existing Human Rights Act 1998
    Human Rights Act 1998

    The Human Rights Act 1998 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received Royal Assent on 9 November 1998, and mostly came into force on 2 October 2000....
    . A notable political proponent of such a Bill is David Cameron
    David Cameron

    David William Donald Cameron is the current leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom. He has occupied both positions since December of 2005....
    , leader of the Conservative Party
    Conservative Party (UK)

    The Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservative Party, is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom....


The Bill of Rights 1689


This fundamental document of British constitutional law differed substantially in form and intent from the United States Bill of Rights
United States Bill of Rights

In the United States, the Bill of Rights is the name by which the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known. They were introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of constitutional amendments, and came into effect on December 15, 1791, when they had been United_States_Constitution...
 because it was intended to address the rights of citizens as represented by Parliament against the Crown. However, some of its basic tenets are adopted and extended to the general public by the US Bill of Rights, including

  • the right of petition
  • an independent judiciary (the Sovereign was forbidden to establish his own courts or to act as a judge himself),
  • freedom from taxation by royal (executive) prerogative, without agreement by Parliament (legislators),
  • freedom from a peace-time standing army,
  • freedom [for Protestants] to bear arms for their defence, as allowed by law,
  • freedom to elect members of Parliament without interference from the Sovereign,
  • freedom of speech in Parliament,
  • freedom from cruel and unusual punishments and excessive bail, and
  • freedom from fines and forfeitures without trial.


The case for a new Bill


One of the main arguments for a new British Bill of Rights is that it would be an opportunity to strengthen the capacity of the courts to actually block or strike down government laws and policies that violated basic rights and liberties.

So far as the substantive content of a new Bill was concerned, this could make illegal a far wider range of abuses of governmental authority than both the original Bill of 1689 and also its later and more comprehensive US constitutional counterpart. Potentially, a great number of additional basic economic, political, judicial, communication, and personal rights and freedoms could be given protection.

There is nothing new about setting basic constitutional legal limits on governmental authority. In England, the courts have been limiting state powers at least since the 13th century. That great general rights code, the Magna Carta of 1215, has served not only Britain but also many other countries well over the years. However, the fact that so many official restrictions on freedom, democracy, and equality before the law have taken place in the UK of late has convinced many liberal reformers that far stronger protection is required in this area.

See also


  • Bill of Rights
    Bill of rights

    A Bill of Rights is a list or summary of rights that are considered important and essential by a nation. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement by the government....


Further reading