My
Magna Carta
an international creative
writing competition for
11-18 year olds.
About the
Competition
The English-Speaking Union is delighted to present
My Magna Carta – an international creative writing competition
for 11-18 year olds. In this, the 800th anniversary year of the
sealing of the Magna Carta, we are asking students to write
a Magna Carta for the 21st Century; a modern constitutional
document that protects the rights and liberties of your
community today. Entries can be submitted from the UK,
The Commonwealth and the ESU’s member countries.
UK and continent finalists will be invited to London to perform
their Magna Carta in a grand final in front of a live audience,
take part in public speaking workshops and enjoy a varied
programme of cultural activities in and around London.
The competition is split into two age groups: Junior (11-14)
and Senior (15-18). The word count for the junior category is
500-750 words, and 750-1250 words for the senior category.
Entries can be supplemented by an optional video, uploaded
1215
to Youtube. More details, together with online entry forms,
Sealing of Magna Carta...
are available on the competition website:
Magna Carta is so much more than a peace treaty
between a quarrelsome King and his barons, sealed
(not signed) in a meadow on the banks of the Thames on
June 15th, 1215. Its lasting iconic value as the foundation
of so many world democracies lies in the power of an
idea - a principle, which states that nobody, including
the King, is above the law of the land.
www.esu.org/mymagnacarta
The deadline for entries is 5 May 2015.
1265
De Montfort’s Parliament...
Simon de Montfort and Anglo-Norman rebel noblemen, convened
a ‘parley’ in a field near Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire on 14th
December 1264. It was not only in defiance of King Henry III, but
was radical in having democratically elected knights and borough
representatives from throughout the kingdom. The de Montfort
Parliament was the first example of its kind in England.
Digital Access: In the digital era, should we all
have access to engage in unrestricted online
conversation? Should we be allowed to remain
anonymous on the web when we want to?
Or do we need a set of digital barriers to
A 21st Century
Constitutional
Document
ensure tolerance and respect? Does everyone
need access to the internet?
The environment: Should those wielding
power be obliged to consider the impact of
My Magna Carta should be a persuasive
document tackling the important issues of the
modern era. It can relate to your specific region,
a particular group of people or the entire world.
Some topics you may want to consider are as
follows:
Poverty and Inequality: The original Magna Carta
had passages referring to natural resources, such
as water and fuel. Should governments be forced
to provide for all their citizens and, if so, should
the bare minimum of clean water and shelter be
made available, or should citizens receive full
1679
The Habeas Corpus Act...
The Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, was
passed during the reign of the restored
monarchy of Charles II after the English
Civil War. It strengthened the ancient
and powerful writ which had been
a feature of English Common Law
since before Magna Carta. It served to
safeguard individual liberty, preventing
unlawful or arbitrary imprisonment.
Habeas Corpus is Latin for “you may
have the body” – subject to legal
examination before a court, or a judge.
humanity upon the natural world? Should there
be entrenched within a formal document the
commitment to maintaining and increasing
biodiversity? Perhaps there should be a
firm commitment to pursue renewable and
sustainable energies?
Corporations: Should citizens be protected
from the excesses of big business, or should
governments be restricted from interfering in
the affairs of profit-making corporations? In a
globalised economy, should multinationals be
the main actors in the international world?
healthcare, food, tools, education, and internet
Artistic Freedoms: Is censorship ever OK?
access? Or perhaps reducing poverty should be
Should artists be unconstrained by moral
left to charities?
standards, or should potentially harmful and
The Power of Governments: Should national
governments be forced to co-operate with each
offensive material be made unavailable
for public consumption?
other? Does your national parliament require
These are just a few ideas, you can address
more restrictions; should they be forced to listen
whatever concerns you have today. Good
more to their electors? Should public opinion and
submissions will be inventive, original
parliamentary operations be more tightly linked?
and clearly and concisely written.
1776
Declaration of
Independence...
The American Declaration of
Independence as penned by
Thomas Jefferson was an indictment
of George III’s numerous breaches
of English Common Law enshrined
within Magna Carta, to which the
thirteen colonies were equally bound.
It became the legal justification for
the American Revolutionary War that
had been raging for over a year,
by 4th July, 1776.
of the document was overseen by Stephen
Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury at the
time, and it ensured that the King would
have to consult barons on taxation, as well
The Magna Carta
goes Worldwide
The Magna
Carta Today
as preventing the King from imprisoning the
English people unlawfully. The requirement
The Magna Carta has inspired the rule
There remain four copies of the original
on public consultation paved the way for the
of law all around the world, perhaps
Magna Carta; one of which is located
idea of a parliament. In practice this meant
most notably in the USA. The founding
in Lincoln cathedral, one is in Salisbury
a council between the King and a select few
fathers of the USA noticed that the rule
Cathedral, and two are in the British
rich landowners, but by 1265 more common
of Magna Carta had lasted for centuries,
Library in London. Magna Carta has
representatives would take part in a national
and attempted to create a document
provided a source of inspiration and
parliament, and in 1295 Edward I set the
that could be as long-lasting as Magna
debate for centuries now, and is still
precedent of electing ‘The Commons’ to be
Carta. They came together in 1787 and
highly symbolic of the rights of the
consulted alongside rich nobles. It was cited
the constitution they drafted is still
individuals and the limits on the power
in the conflict between King and parliament
in force today. Many other countries
of those who rule. However, the vast
before the English Civil War of the 17th
took inspiration in this way, and The
majority of the document is no longer
The Magna Carta is perhaps the most
Century. Parliamentarians argued that it was
British Empire (and latterly the British
enshrined in UK law, and there have
important constitutional document to have
a longstanding English principle that the King
Commonwealth) helped to spread
been calls for a modern replacement.
ever been written. Sealed in 1215, it has
rule alongside the council of parliament.
democratic principles that developed
Can you create a document that has the
About the
Magna Carta
over centuries from the basis of Magna
potential to provide the rights that we
constitutionalists for 800 years. It is both a
The right to individual liberty was, in practice,
Carta. A very local quarrel and its
need for the next 800 years?
symbol of restricting executive power and
restricted to the protection of barons from
resolution in the early 13th Century has,
ensuring individual liberties. A small amount
being unlawfully imprisoned, but it came
therefore, come to influence the entire
of the document is still enshrined into UK law,
to represent a lot more. These terms were
world over 800 years.
and its influence can be seen in constitutional
reissued in 1297 and woven into the culture
documents all around the world.
of British politics. The legacy of Magna Carta
continued to influence treaty writers and
became especially important in the 17th
Magna Carta was issued on 15 June 1215,
Century when its content became entwined
at Runnymede near Windsor in England. It
with the principle of Habeas Corpus – that
was essentially a peace treaty between King
the arrest of any man should be scrutinised
John of England and a group of rebellious
by the courts. This effectively limited the
barons – landowners and nobleman. The
power of the monarch by preventing him or
King had taken money from the barons in the
her to lock up who he or she wanted to. The
form of taxation, and the barons were not
freedom principles laid down in Magna Carta
happy with the unsuccessful war with France
were mentioned by slaves in the 19th Century
which this taxation had funded. The issuing
and continually by politicians.
1948
The Universal Declaration
of Human Rights...
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 has been
described as the Magna Carta of our age. Arising from the ashes
of WW2 and the unspeakable barbarity of the conflict, it set out
basic freedoms, comprising 30 articles to which all humans are
entitled. It is safeguarded and underwritten by the United Nations
and adopted into the laws of almost every country in the world.
This competition is being conducted in
partnership with Royal Holloway, part of the
University of London. We are grateful to the
Magna Carta 800th Committee for their funding
of the marketing of My Magna Carta.
www.esu.org/mymagnacarta
The deadline for entries is 5 May 2015.
www.esu.org/mymagnacarta
mymagnacarta800
[email protected]
+44 (0) 207 529 1595