On 7th June 1628 the Petition of Right is passed Parliament. It is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties that the king is prohibited from infringing.
It restates the validity of Magna Carta and the legal requirement of Habeas Corpus. The Petition is seen as one of England’s most famous constitutional documents which is of equal value to the Magna Carta and Bill of Rights 1689.
King Charles I wasn’t exactly happy about parliament passing the Petition as he realised that it was the end of his power to do whatever he wanted but he was forced to accept and finally did so on this auspicious 7th day of June in the year 1628!
The freedoms we accept today seem like they have been there forever but there were times when they did not exist so we must be grateful that there were people of integrity and strength who fought for these freedoms and enacted laws to ensure that they were kept by everybody including the monarch. This Petition was a more important landmark than Magna Carta in this respect and together with Habeas Corpus and the later Bill of Rights 1689 was the basis for the freedoms we accept today as our birthright and have been adopted in whole or part by every other free country in the world!
