The Bill of Rights is an Act of the Parliament of England passed on 16 December 1689.
It was a restatement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the
Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689, inviting them to become joint
sovereigns of England.
It lays down limits on the powers of the crown and sets out the rights of Parliament and
rules for freedom of speech in Parliament, the requirement for regular elections to Parliament
and the right to petition the monarch without fear of retribution.
It reestablished the liberty of Protestants to have arms for their defence within the
rule of law, and condemned James II of England for "causing several good subjects being Protestants
to be disarmed at the same time when papists were both armed and employed contrary to law".
These ideas about rights reflected those of the political thinker John Locke and they
quickly became popular in England.
It also sets out—or, in the view of its drafters, restates—certain constitutional
requirements of the Crown to seek the consent of the people, as represented in Parliament.
In the United Kingdom, the Bill of Rights is further accompanied by the Magna Carta,
the Petition of Right, the Habeas Corpus Act 1679 and the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949
as some of the basic documents of the uncodified British constitution.
A separate but similar document, the Claim of Right Act, applies in Scotland.
The Bill of Rights was one of the inspirations for the United States Bill of Rights.
Along with the Act of Settlement 1701, the Bill of Rights is still in effect in all Commonwealth
realms.
Provisions of the Act The Bill of Rights laid out certain basic
rights for all Englishmen.
The Act stated that there should be: no royal interference with the law.
Though the sovereign remains the fount of justice, he or she cannot unilaterally establish
new courts or act as a judge.
no taxation by Royal Prerogative.
The agreement of the parliament became necessary for the implementation of any new taxes
freedom to petition the monarch without fear of retribution
no standing army may be maintained during a time of peace without the consent of parliament.
no royal interference in the freedom of the people to have arms for their own defence
as suitable to their class and as allowed by law
no royal interference in the election of members of Parliament
the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or
questioned in any court or place out of Parliament "grants and promises of fines or forfeitures"
before conviction are void.
no excessive bail or "cruel and unusual" punishments may be imposed.
Certain acts of James II were also specifically named and declared illegal by the Bill of
Rights, while James' flight from England in the wake of the Glorious Revolution was also
declared to be an abdication of the throne.
Also, in a prelude to the Act of Settlement to come twelve years later, the Bill of Rights
barred Roman Catholics from the throne of England as "it hath been found by experience
that it is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant kingdom to be governed
by a papist prince"; thus William III and Mary II were named as the successors of James
VII and II and that the throne would pass from them first to Mary's heirs, then to her
sister, Princess Anne of Denmark and her heirs and, further, to any heirs of William by a
later marriage.
The monarch was further required to swear a coronation oath to maintain the Protestant
religion.
Augmentation and effect The Bill of Rights was later supplemented
by the Act of Settlement 1701.
Both the Bill of Rights and the Claim of Right contributed a great deal to the establishment
of the concept of parliamentary sovereignty and the curtailment of the powers of the monarch.
Leading, ultimately, to the establishment of constitutional monarchy, while also settling
the political and religious turmoil that had convulsed Scotland, England and Ireland in
the 17th century.
It was a predecessor of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the
United States Bill of Rights, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the United
Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.
For example, as with the Bill of Rights, the US constitution prohibits excessive bail and
"cruel and unusual punishments."
Similarly, "cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments" are banned under Article 5 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The bill continues to constantly change and be cited in legal proceedings in the Commonwealth
realms.
For instance, on 21 July 1995 a libel case brought by Neil Hamilton against The Guardian
was stopped after Justice May ruled that the Bill of Rights' prohibition on the courts'
ability to question parliamentary proceedings would prevent The Guardian from obtaining
a fair hearing.
Section 13 of the Defamation Act 1996, was subsequently enacted to permit MPs to waive
their parliamentary privilege and thus cite their own speeches if relevant to litigation.
The Bill of Rights was also invoked in New Zealand in the 1976 case of Fitzgerald v.
Muldoon and Others, which centred on the purporting of newly appointed Prime Minister Robert Muldoon
that he would advise the Governor-General to abolish a superannuation scheme established
by the New Zealand Superannuation Act, 1974, without new legislation.
Muldoon felt that the dissolution would be immediate and he would later introduce a bill
in parliament to retroactively make the abolition legal.
This claim was challenged in court and the Chief Justice declared that Muldoon's actions
were illegal as they had violated Article 1 of the Bill of Rights, which provides "that
the pretended power of dispensing with laws or the execution of laws by regal authority...is
illegal."
This Act was retained for the Republic of Ireland by section 2(2)(a) of, and Part 2
of Schedule 1 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 2007.
Section 2(3) of that Act repealed: all of the Preamble down to "Upon which Letters
Elections haveing beene accordingly made" the seventh paragraph after the words "for
the Vindicating and Asserting their auntient Rights and Liberties, Declare"
all words from "And they doe Claime Demand and Insist" down to, but not including, section
2.
Historical recognition Two special designs of the British commemorative
two pound coins were issued in the United Kingdom in 1989 to celebrate the tercentenary
of the Glorious Revolution.
One referred to the Bill of Rights and the other to the Claim of Right.
Both depict the Royal Cypher of William and Mary and the mace of the House of Commons,
one also shows a representation of the St Edward's Crown and another the Crown of Scotland.
In May 2011, the Bill of Rights was inscribed in UNESCO's UK Memory of the World Register.
See also Act of Toleration 1689
Charter of Liberties Habeas Corpus Act 1679
Petition of Right English Civil War
Fundamental Laws of England Crown and Parliament Recognition Act 1689
Rights of Englishmen Penal Law
Penal Laws Trial of the Seven Bishops
United States Constitution United States Declaration of Independence
Seneca Falls Convention References
External links Text of the Bill of Rights
The Parliamentary Archives - Holds the original of this Historic Record
Official text of the Bill of Rights 1689 as in force today within the United Kingdom,
from the UK Statute Law Database