Magna Carta

MAGNA CARTA: place in the modern world

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MAGNA CARTA: PLACE IN MODERN WORLD

WHAT IS MAGNA CARTA

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN bodily freedoms and universal right

BILL OF RIGHTS

modern ENGLISH CONSTITUTION

FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHT

What is the Magna Carta

1.

The Magna Carta libertatum is a royal charter of rights accepted on June 15, 1215 by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor. Written by the Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton to achieve peace between the unpopular king and a group of rebel nobles, it guaranteed the protection of church rights, the protection of civilians from unjustified detention, the guarantee of swift justice and the limitation of feudal tributes to the crown.

Differences between bodily freeedoms and universal right

In the Middle Ages, rights were born of particular concessions or of customary origin, sanctioned by use and traditions. The medieval corporate charters consisted of a sworn pact between the king and the ruling classes to recognize the freedoms of the privileged classes. When the sovereign tried to nullify or diminish the rights and privileges of the subjects, they could rebel or dissolve the relationship of loyalty. The frequent rebellions of the subjects and the continuous request for the reconfirmation of corporate freedoms by the classes, leads the sovereigns to want to limit the effectiveness of the rights of their subjects. In the medieval world these corporate freedoms were forms of limitation of royal power.

After the 17th century revolution, corporate rights were extended to the entire national community. The freedoms recognized by the Magna Carta that were previously privileges valid only for a limited circle, are then extended throughout the English nation with the Bill of rights of 1629, becoming modern rights. This leads us to consider the Magna Carta as the first step towards a constitutional-liberal political system based on the recognition of civil rights.

The Bill of Rights

Maria II Stuart and William of Orange received the crown from the English Parliament accepted the Bill of rights Declaration of the political and civil rights. They originated the first monarchy whose powers they were constitutionally limited. The document stated that the sovereign could not suspend laws, impose taxes or maintain a stable army in peacetime without the approval of Parliament; The Members of Parliament were freely elected and enjoyed full freedom of expression and discussion; that there were no restrictions on freedom for Protestant subjects. At the same time, all the recognized freedoms are recalled, starting from the Magna Carta, while a more frequent convocation of the Parliament is hoped for to remedy all the wrongs, and for the improvement, strengthening, defense of the laws.

Magna carta in the English Constitution

In the modern English legislation, of the 63 articles of the Magna Carta, only 3 remain in force and precisely: • Article 1: guarantees the freedom and rights of the Church of England (now the Anglican Church). • Article 13: recognizes the existing rights of the city of London and to other cities • Article 39, very important, which prevents punitive measures such as arrest, detention, exile, for free men unless after a regular trial before a jury made up of the "peers" of the accused.

The influence of the Magna Carta goes beyond, however, the surviving articles and many of the freedoms resonate strongly in modern democracies: from "no taxation without representation" to the sovereignty of Parliaments.

Fight for human right

The influence of Magna Carta can also be clearly seen in the many and varied struggles for human rights over the centuries.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-68), the black American civil rights leader fighting for equal rights, quoted from the document when he said ‘justice too long delayed is justice denied’. King participated in and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other basic civil rights. Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) was often held up as the supreme example of a successful activist; after 27 years in prison he emerged in triumph to be elected first black President of South Africa (1994-99). In his trial he quoted from both the Magna Carta and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Citations from Magna Carta are still to be found in law courts where liberty is defended around the world. Recently it was referred to in a judgement by the Supreme Court of the United States concerning the detention without charge of a prisoner at Guantánamo Bay,

Malala Yousafzai was born in northwest Pakistan. She has become famous as an activist for female education and is the youngest- ever Nobel Prize laureate. When she was 12, using a pseudonym, Malala wrote a blog for the BBC in which she described life under the Taliban. The local Taliban banned girls from attending school, but Malala defied this order. When she was 15, she was shot by a gunman while travelling to school. She went into a coma but survived and was sent to a hospital in Birmingham for intensive rehabilitation. She still lives in Birmingham and is finishing her education in the UK. She has become an international spokesperson for the right to education. She was co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.