Produced with the support of the
Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX)
What Is It?
Magna Carta is Latin for the Great Charter. It is
both a document and a set of ideas.
possessions, or outlawed or exiled, nor will we
proceed with force against him, except by the
lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the
land.”
On the surface, Magna Carta is just a piece
of paper - an 800 year old pact that sought to
prevent war between King John (Bad King John
as he is more commonly known – who reigned
from 1167 to 1216) and twenty-five barons.
King John sealed Magna Carta on the fields of
Runnymede in 1215. As a means of preventing
war, Magna Carta was a failure, rejected shortly
after by King John and the Pope Innocent III, and
was legally valid for no more than three months.
It was the first time a set of rules had been
written down for the King to obey. In doing so,
it enshrined the principle that no man is above
the law, not even the King. Many think of Magna
Carta as the first building block of the British
constitution. It is associated with the ideals of
democracy, limitation of power, equality and
freedom under law.
Yet the ideas embodied in Magna Carta endure.
What Did It Say?
Magna Carta, and the conflict that surrounded
it, limited the power of the King. It guaranteed
the people certain rights, and bound the King to
the rule of law. While the Barons involved were
neither fighting for democracy nor the rights of
the common people, their actions set in motion
all further attempts by the many to constrain the
power of the few. Winston Churchill described
the Magna Carta as “the foundation of principles
and systems of government of which neither King
John or his nobles dreamed.”
The core of the 1215 Magna Carta document
was a large section that is now called clause 61
(the clauses were not originally numbered). This
section established a committee of 25 barons
who could meet at any time and overrule the
will of the King if he defied the provisions of the
Charter, seizing his castles and possessions if
it was considered necessary. This was based
on a medieval legal practice known as distraint,
but it was the first time it had been applied to a
monarch. The agreement outlined limits on the
power of the crown, and established that the King
was subject to the law, rather than above it.
What It About?
Whilst the ideas in Magna Carta are regarded
as the foundation of our freedom, most of the
clauses related to the amount of money John
had demanded from the barons and the way he
abused the justice system:
Magna Carta was essentially a promise by the
King to abide by certain rules.
It did not grant new rights, but it did protect the
rights that already existed by putting them into
writing. It confirmed the right to a speedy trial by
a jury of one’s peers, the protection of private
property, reasonable limits on taxes, and a degree
of guaranteed religious freedom.
• A £100 limit on the tax barons had to pay to
inherit their lands.
• The King could not sell or deny justice to
anyone.
• The royal forests were to be reduced in size.
Its most famous passage laid the foundations
of trial by jury: “No free man shall be seized
or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or
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Magna Carta: A Brief Introduction
The document and the way it was agreed to
were serious challenges to John’s authority as a
King. He renounced it as soon as the barons left
London. Pope Innocent III, an extremely powerful
figure in Europe at the time, rejected any call for
restraints on the King, saying it impaired John’s
dignity. He saw it as an affront to the Catholic
Church’s authority over the King and the ‘papal
territories’ of England and Ireland.
The UN Declaration of Human Rights adopted
in 1948 was similarly influenced by the Magna
Carta. Speaking at the UN General Assembly as
she submitted the UN Declaration, Mrs Eleanor
Roosevelt argued that “we stand today at the
threshold of a great event both in the life of the
United Nations and in the life of mankind. This
declaration may well become the international
Magna Carta for all men everywhere”.
The rebels, seeing that King John could never be
restrained by Magna Carta, sought a new King.
England was plunged into a civil war, known as
the First Barons’ War.
So Why Is It Important?
Magna Carta established the rule of law, laid
the foundation for personal liberty, and continued
a century’s long journey to the freedoms we
enjoy today. It acts as a set of principles and
a reference point for our legal compass, and
helps us align our values with those of previous
generations. What would stop a police officer
from seizing your goods if they were above the
law? What redress would you have if they did
so if you couldn’t challenge power? That is why
Magna Carta is so vitally relevant today: all of
these principles and elements of our daily life that
we take for granted are rooted in our history and
codified in Magna Carta.
Following an invitation by the Barons, France
invaded in 1216 and King John was forced to
retreat. In October 1216 he died of illness, and
his son and heir Henry III reissued the Magna
Carta in an attempt to placate the Barons.
The power of the King had been permanently
damaged, and no King of England was ever again
unrestricted or ‘absolute’. Within half a century,
England had a parliament to represent the wishes
of the barons to the king.
What Impact Did It Have
Globally?
Many attempts to draft constitutional forms
of government, including the United States
Constitution, trace their lineage back to Magna
Carta. It was central to both the American
Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
The newly-independent United States included
many of its concepts in the 1791 Bill of Rights.
Australia and New Zealand, and Canada (except
Quebec) also reflect influence of Magna Carta in
their law, and the Charter impacted generally on
the states that evolved from the British Empire.
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Magna Carta: A Brief Introduction