Bill of Rights 1689: Roots and Functions

1. University of Tehran
Faculty of World Studies
Department of British Studies
British Bill of Rights:
Roots & Functions
History of British Developments
Tuesday, November 10, 2015

2. CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Significance of the Topic
 Roots - Glorious Revolution
 The Coronation Oath Act 1688
 Functions - Important Articles in the English Bill of Rights
 Limits on the Powers on Monarch
 Rights of Parliament
 Rights of Individuals
 Impacts
 Contemporary Referrals
 Methodology
 Works Cited

3. INTRODUCTION
 The Bill of Rights (1689) is an Act of the
Parliament of England that deals with
constitutional matters and lays out certain basic
civil rights.

4. SIGNIFICANCE
 Along with Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, the
Habeas Corpus Act 1679 and the Parliament Acts 1911
and 1949 work as the foundation of the uncodified
British constitution.
 Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement: birth of
parliamentary sovereignty

5. GLORIOUS REVOLUTION
 After the accession of James II in 1685, his overt Roman
Catholicism alienated the majority of the population.
 He declared two Declarations of Indulgence suspending
penal laws for dissenters.
 Seven eminent Englishmen, including one bishop and
six prominent politicians of both Whig and Tory
persuasions, wrote inviting William of Orange to come
over with an army.
 The proposal to draw up a statement of rights and
liberties and James’s violation of them was first made on
29 Jan-uary in the House of Commons in order to:
“secure ourselves for the future”
“do justice to those who sent us here”

6. GLORIOUS REVOLUTION - CONTINUED
 William was now asked to carry on the government and
summon a Parliament.
 The Parliament decided to treat James’s flee as an
abdication and to offer the Crown, with an
accompanying Declaration of Right, to William and
Mary jointly. Both gift and conditions were accepted.

7. THE CORONATION OATH ACT 1688
 They were crowned swearing an oath to uphold the laws
made by Parliament
 The Coronation Oath Act 1688 had provided a new
coronation oath.
 Monarchs were to “solemnly promise and swear to
govern the people of this kingdom of England and the
dominions according to the statutes agreed on in the
Parliament”.
 They were also to maintain the laws of God and the
Protestant Reformed faith established by law.
 The previous oath required the monarch to rule based on
the laws and customs granted by the Kings of England.

8. Impacts on three major areas:
 Laid down limits on the powers of the monarch
 Set out the rights of Parliament
 Set out certain rights of individuals
BILL OF RIGHTS - FUNCTIONS

9. LIMITS ON THE POWERS OF
THE MONARCH
 seek the consent of the people, as represented in
Parliament
 laws should not be dispensed with or suspended without
the consent of Parliament
 no taxes should be imposed without the authority of
Parliament
 no standing army may be maintained during peace-time
without the consent of Parliament
 Anyone who becomes a Roman Catholic, or who marries
one, becomes disqualified to inherit the throne. (Act of
Settlement 1701)
 The king and/or queen may not by themselves establish
new courts of law nor may they act as a judge.

10. RIGHTS OF PARLIAMENT
 the requirement for regular parliaments
 free elections
 freedom of speech in Parliament
 the right to petition the monarch should be without fear
of retribution
 the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in
Parliament should not to be impeached or questioned in
any court or place out of Parliament
 Parliaments should be held frequently

11. RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS
 prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment
 Reestablishment of the liberty of Protestants to have
arms for their defense within the rule of law

12. IMPACTS
 A fresh breath of freedom touching the English and their
institutions.
 Lead ultimately to the establishment of constitutional
monarchy
 The rights expressed in this Act and others became
associated with the idea of the rights of Englishmen, and
described as Fundamental Laws of England
 a model for later, more general, statements of rights
including:
 the United States Bill of Rights
 the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
 the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
 the European Convention on Human Rights.

13. CONTEMPORARY REFERRALS
 The Bill of Rights was also invoked in New Zealand in the
1976 case of Fitzgerald v Muldoon and Others
 Where the newly appointed Prime Minister Rob Muldoon
advised the Governor-General to abolish a retirement plans
established by the New Zealand Superannuation Act, 1974,
without new legislation.
 Muldoon though that the dissolution would be immediate and
he would later introduce a bill in parliament to 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.

14. METHODOLOGY
 All the data provided are gathered by means of
Library research and note making, investigating,
identifying and locating sources that provided
factual information about the topic.

15. BIBLIOGRAPHY
 The Glorious Revolution . (2010, August). Retrieved 11 9, 2015, from House of
Commons Information Office : http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-
information-office/g04.pdf
 Aileen Walker; Oonagh Gay; Lucinda Mae. (2009, October 5). Bill of Rights
1689. Retrieved 11 9, 2015, from House of Commons Library:
http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN00293
 Archives, P. (n.d.). Bill of Rights. Retrieved 11 9, 2015, from British Library:
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/takingliberties/staritems/510billofrights.html
 MAHESHWARI, R. (n.d.). What was the Constitutional Significance of the Bill
of Rights, 1689 and the Act of Settlement, 1701? Retrieved 11 9, 2015, from
Preservearticles.com: http://www.preservearticles.com/2011100614805/what-
were-the-constitutional-significance-of-the-bill-of-rights-1689-and-the-act-of-
settlement-1701.html
 Williams, J. (n.d.). What Is the English Bill Of Rights? - Definition & History.
Retrieved 11 9, 2015, from study.com: http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-
theenglish--bill-of-rights-definition-summary-history.html