– loss of land in France. King John became highly unpopular with his nobles when the French King invaded Normandy and the English finally lost their lands in France. To the nobles one thing was clear: King John failed to carry out (выполнить) his duty to them as the duke of Normandy. He had taken their money and levy (облагал) taxes but he failed to protect their (noble's) land.
– conflict with the Pope. The conflict with the Pope made John unpopular not only in the clergy (среди духовенства), but also among a lot of common people, because they suffered most from the Pope's interdict (отлучения от церкви).
– heavy taxes. Heavy taxes of course didn't appeal (не нравились) to anyone. Everyone suffered from increased taxes and taxes that seemed quite unreasonable.
– illegal arrests. Apart from the losses of land, the nobility often suffered from illegal arrests. Very often John seized people, imprisoned them and even murdered them without any trial.
– corrupt judicial system.
The John was considered the worst king in English history.
John's poor and arbitrary (|'ɑːrbətreri| деспотическое, произвольное) government with its very heavy tax demands, unsuccessful wars in France, quarrels with the Pope and defeat in 1214 – this government had led the barons and bishops to revolt. The rise started first in the Northern England and then very soon spread south and east. The barons withdrew their allegiance (|əˈliːdʒəns|– отозвали присяги) to the King, in other words, they no longer claimed to be loyal to him, and tried to negotiate |nɪˈɡoʊʃieɪt| (договориться) new conditions of the King's rule. They also demanded to grant them a charter confirming (даровать хартию, подтверждающую) ancient 'liberties' they were entitled to (на которые они имели право). But the negotiations (переговоры) went nowhere, and very soon armies were raised.
Civil war was close, and the barons even managed to capture London (where John's Exchequer was based). Exchequer is a financial department (казначейство). So, King John had now to talk to the barons. The barons' demands were incorporated in a document known as 'The Articles of the Barons'. On 15th of June 1215 (twelve-fifteen) having this document on them they met with King at Runnymede [ranimi:d] (which is not very far from London). There John had to set his seal on the Articles of the Barons. He promised to issue a special Charter based on these demands which later became known as Great Charter of Freedoms, or the Magna Carta. Magna Carta [' mægnə ' k ɑ :tə] guaranteed the people of England rights that the king could not go back on (не мог бы нарушить, обмануть).
The problem with the previous Charter of Liberties (1100) was difficulty in enforcing it. Barons chose a counsel of 25 people whose task was to enforce this Charter's agreement. John had to sign it eventually in order to avoid a civil war. In year later, in 1216 he tried to go back on the Magna Carta (=ignore it) which provoked the barons into declaring war on the King. A civil war started. By 1216, King John got ill. During the war, he suffered from dysentry (|'dɪsənteri| дизентерии, М.В. произнесла |dɪ'zənteri|). When he was retreating, he somehow managed to lose most of his treasure including some of his Crown jewels. A few days after that King John died and was succeeded by Henry III. The reign of King John ended in as much unfortunate way as it had started.
Magna Carta (in Latin – the Great Charter, or the Great Paper). It was designed to rebalance the power between the King and the barons. Magna Carta contains 63 promises about what the King could and couldn't do. It also set up a counsel of 25 barons to make sure John kept his promises. In history Magna Carta became the symbol of the rule of law in England, it was one more clear manifestation of the idea that even kings shouldn't violate (нарушать) the law. It protected the rights of individuals. Its basic principles have been used in the constitutions of the USA, Japan, Germany and many Commonwealth (во многих странах Содружества) and other countries.
A large part of the Magna Carta was copied, nearly word for word, from the Charter of Liberties of Henry I, issued when Henry ascended (взошел) to the throne in 1100. So, in a way, Magna Carta also regulated functions of the King and the relations between the Crown, the Church and the barons and liberties which each one of these sides had.
Magna Carta guaranteed, proclaimed, established, stated:
– the right to due process of law. Nobody could be arrested or convicted without a trial.
– the right to a fair trial before one's equals (in order to eliminate corruption).
– the right to habeas corpus. If a person is arrested, he has the right to know why he was arrested and what his crime is. People have rights against unlawful imprisonment.
– the right not to be tried twice for the same offence. No-one could be tried more than once for the same offence.
– the right to proportionate fines: when punishment had to fit the crime.
– the right not to be fined so heavily as to have livelihood [laivlihud] destroyed (лишен средств к существованию)
– reasonable taxation approved by the barons (emergence of English Parliament is connected to this). This is a very important point, we will go back to this idea when we start discussing the emergence of English Parliament. New taxes that had been obtained (признаны) by 'the common counsel of the realm'. In addition, only reasonable taxes ('aids' – сборы) were to be taken by the knights from their free tenants (арендаторов, вассалов).
– the King is not above the law (the rule of law)
– the freedom of the Church to govern its own affairs.
– the right to own property which could not be taken without due process of law
– the people's right to forest and riverbanks (to fuel and food + building supplies [seplais] – добывать топливо, еду и стройматериалы)
– the right of London and other cities, towns and ports to have all their liberties and free customs.
– the right of a people to travel freely in and out of their country, except during war
Most of the Provisions of Magna Carta are no longer relevant to the present-day situation.
Magna Carta was several times reissued, for example in 1225 after the civil law, John's son was made to sign Magna Carta again.
Legacy ([ легаси ] – наследие ) of Magna Carta
1) final version of Magna Carta was reissued by Edward I and became part of English law in 1297;
2) In the 17th century was used by Parliament to protect itself from kings James I and Charles I. Sir Edward Coke expressed a view that the Charter guaranteed substantive (основные) rights to all Englishmen and strictly limited the power of the Crown;
3) By the early 19th century most clauses (пункты) of Magna Carta in their originate form had been repealed (отменены) from the English law. 3 clauses are still in force even today:
– Clause number 1 that guarantees the freedom of English Church.
– Clause number 9 that guarantees the 'ancient liberties' of the city of London. Indeed, London is in a way in a privileged position compared to other towns and cities
– Clause number 29 that guarantees the due process of law
4) Magna Carta has been called the foundation of the British and other constitutions
Magna Carta (мультик)
Magna Carta (The Great Charter) is one of the most famous documents in the world. It has inspired people across the centuries: from Thomas Jefferson to Mahatma Gandhi. But why was the charter originally created and what does it actually say?
The year 1215, the ruler is King John. Many people believe that the king John was one of the worst kings in history:
1. he imprisoned his former wife (бывшую жену), stabbed (зарезал) his opponents to death,
2. allegedly |əˈledʒɪdli| (якобы, как утверждают) murdered his own nephew.
3. he had imposed heavy taxes on his barons in order to pay for his expensive foreign wars. If they refused to pay, he punished them severely or seized their property.
4. he pulled the beards of the Irish Chiefs (вырывал бороды ирландским вождям)
The barons demanded that king John obey the law. When he refused, they captured London and John was forced to negotiate (принужден к переговорам).
In June 1215 the two sides met at Runnymede. The result of the negotiations was written down by the king’s clerks [kla:ks] into the document we know as Magna Carta.
Although most of the charter’s clauses dealt with medieval rights and customs, Magna Carta has become a powerful symbol of liberty around the world. The most famous clause, which is still part of the law today, for the first time gave all ‘free men’ the right to justice and a fair trial.
‘ No man shall be arrested or imprisoned except by the judgement of their equals and by the law of the land. To no-one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice’
Ни один свободный человек не будет арестован или заключен в тюрьму,
или лишен владения, или объявлен стоящим вне закона, или изгнан, или
каким-либо (иным) способом обездолен, и мы не пойдем на него и не пошлем на
него иначе, как по законному приговору равных его (его пэров) и по закону страны.
However, this clause was not as liberal as it sounds. The Charter only applied to ‘free men’, the vast majority of people in 1215 were unfree peasants [pesents] who were ruled over by their landowners. And although Magna Carta was intended to create peace between King John and his rebellious barons, England was plunged (погружена) into civil war after the Pope declared the Charter invalid |ɪnˈvælɪd|
When King John died of dysentery [disentri] in 1216, nine years old Henry III took to the throne. To keep the peace, Magna Carta was reissued several times during 13th century (in 1217, 1225, 1297), until it was finally made part of English law (1297).
Magna Carta has lived on for 800 years, and is echoed |'ekoʊd|in the United States Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Perhaps Magna Carta’s most important legacy (наследие) is that everyone - including our leaders - must obey the law. What started out as a document of specific complaints from a group of barons has turned into an international symbol of liberty, without which we might not have the rights we value so much today.
Lecture 4
Edward I (1272–1307)
Перепечатка по аудио: первая половина – Анжела Сулейманова; вторая – Сергей Чебан. За аудио спасибо Сирануш Марабян.
Government and justice;
a. central government
b. judicial system
c. development of law
The birth of parliament.
3. Wars of Edward I:
a. war in Wales;
b. war in Scotland;
Edward I (12 72 –1307)
Edward I had a nickname ‘Longshanks’ (this literally means ‘long legs’). This was due to his great hight. He was one of the most successful medieval monarchs in England. He was the ideal medieval king. He was a good fighter. He enjoyed both war and states craft. So, on the one hand, his crusading and his military activities gave him prestige and good reputation among his nobles. On the other hand, he also did a lot for the improvement of administrative system of the country.
The first 20 years of his reign marked a high point in cooperation between the crown and the community, because it these years Edward made great strides (шаги) in reforming the government, in consolidating the territory of the country and generally in defining foreign policy.
Edward, as the king, believed in the concept of community. On the whole he tried to rule with general wealthier of his subjects in mind. He thought that the position of the monarch required him to act for the public good and to think of the good of the realm ([rɛlm], королевство, государство), because he was the chief legislator of this realm and because he had the greatest authority in the country. So, he believed that this authority granted by law not only gave him a lot of power, but also gave some protection to the king’s subjects.
Edward I thought that a king should rule with the advice of those people, whose rights were mostly affected by his decisions.
GOVERNMENT AND JUSTICE
Generally, Edward I added to the bureaucracy [ˌbjʊ(ə)ˈrɒkrəsi], that had already been started by Henry II. He did this to increase the effectiveness of his rule and of his work.
Edward I expanded the administration of his country into 4 principal parts. From now on 4 clear administrative divisions could be observed in the English government:
• The Chancery
• The Exchequer
• The Household
• The King’s Council
Each division specialized in certain kind of work.
The Chancery - mainly researched and created legal documents.
The Exchequer - is the financial department.
• It received and issued money,
• Scrutinized ([ˈskruːtɪnʌɪzed], изучать, рассматривать) the accounts of local officials (the sheriffs mainly).
• It also kept all financial records of the state.
The Chancery and the Exchequer, of course, operated within the king's authority. But they were in a way independent from his personal rule, because each department had its own head department.
The Household - was court of clerks and advisers that, if necessary, traveled with the king.
The King’s Council - this was the most crucial element of this administration. It consisted of people of great importance: trusted judges, clerks, barons, churchmen (sometimes). They also followed the king if necessary (like the Household).
• Council dealt with matters of great national importance (for example, international policy).
• Apart from that The Kings Council continued acting as a Court. This court decided cases of national importance.
The Court of the King's Bench.
Edward’s reforms in the area of law and justice had important consequences in decreasing some feudal (?) practices. Thus, for instance, Royal jurisdiction became supreme.
With this royal courts started to specialize. We can see at least 3 specialized royal courts:
• The Court of Exchequer - developed from the Exchequer as the financial department; had financial disputes and matters of taxation.
• The Court of Common Pleas [pliː] - had disputes of common nature (for example, property disputes, issues of lands, other disputes connected with people’s everyday life)
• The Court of the King’s Bench - addressed the criminal cases that where somehow important for the king (in which the king had a vested interest).
The development of Court system was accompanied by further development in the legal system of England.
By the middle of 13th century the process of formation of common law as the English legal system was nearly complete. however, by the end of the 13th century there were so many cases decided by courts that very often judges could not remember all the precedents. So, quite naturally, there rose a need for codification.
That is why so called ‘Year Books’ were first introduced in 1292.
Judges, when they were not sure whether the precedent had already been established or not, could just take such a Year Book, open it and look for similar cases and check whether the precedent is there or not.
With the beginning of codification of common law there started to develop another type of law - statute law. Statute law is made by parliament.
No wonder that statute law started to appear in 13th century, because this was the time when the first prototypes of parliaments started to appear. Such first parliaments were usually occasional. They didn’t initiate legislation. They had to agree or disagree to a proposed law. Edward used such parliaments and other councils that were at his disposal (в его распоряжении) to strengthen his authority.
With the development of parliament statute law started to develop as well.
One of the people who played an important role in the process was Edward’s Chancellor - Robert Burnell (a Chancellor is the head of the Chancery).
Lord Chancellor – the head of the Chancery. He dealt with legal documents.
| Statutes dealing with Law and Order | Statutes dealing with the Land issues | Statutes dealing with the Church |
| 1275 - the First Statute of Westminster | 1285 - the Second Statute of Westminster | 1279 - the Statute of Mortmain |
| 1285 - the Statute of Winchester | 1290 - the Statute of Quia Emptores (the Third Statute of Westminster) | |
| 1278 - the Statute of Gloucester | ||
| 1290 - The Statute of Quo Warranto |
STATUTES
LAW AND ORDER
Дата: 2018-11-18, просмотров: 524.
