We will mark a special occasion on 15 June this year; it will be
eight hundred years to the day that King John signed the Magna
Carta (Great Charter) at Runnymede, creating rights and laws for
the people of England. The document is the foundation for the rule
of law in democratic societies around the world, including
Australia.
The 1215 document established the principle that everybody,
including the king, was subject to the law. It gave all 'free
men' the right to justice and a fair trial by a jury,
independence of the judiciary and equality before the law.
One clause stands out even today: "No free man shall be
seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights of possessions, or
outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way,
nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do
so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of
the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or
justice."
