petition of right


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Related to petition of right: Bill of Rights

petition of right

originally, the means of proceeding against the Crown in a civil action (e.g. breach of contract). The petition of right procedure was rendered obsolete by the passing of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947.
Collins Dictionary of Law © W.J. Stewart, 2006

PETITION OF RIGHT, Eng. law. When the crown is in possession, or any title is vested in it which is claimed by a subject, as no suit can be brought against the king, the subject is allowed to file in chancery a petition of right to the king.
     2. This is in the, nature of an action against a subject, in which the petitioner sets out his right to that which is demanded by him, and prays the king to do him right and justice; and, upon a due and lawful trial of the right, to make him restitution. It is called a petition of right, because the king is bound of right to answer it, and let the matter therein contained be determined in a legal way, in like manner as causes between subject and subject. The petition is presented to the king, who subscribes it, with these words, soit droit fait al partie, and thereupon it is delivered to the chancellor to be executed according to law. Coke's Entr. 419, 422 b; Mitf. Eq. Pl. 30, 31; Coop. Eq. Pl. 22, 23.

A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.
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When the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution guaranteed the due process of law, it continued in the tradition of Magna Carta, the due process statutes, and the Petition of Right. Although it set a standard for the courts, it more basically barred any binding adjudication outside the courts.
The development of ideas of due process thus runs directly from Magna Carta's Article 39 in 1215, to the 1368 Due Process Statute, to the 1628 Petition of Right, to the Fifth Amendment in 1791.
The Magna Carta, due process, and administrative power
Another version of the petition of right, Magna Carta has some sixty paragraphs of demands under the common law.
Coke composed a document in the usual form that was formally entitled the Petition of Right. It sought the restoration of the ancient rights, drawing upon tradition and reaffirming Magna Carta.
These five charters--the Charter of Liberties, Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, the Bill of Rights, and the Act of Habeas Corpus--are considered to be the unwritten constitution of British law.
James Monroe and the sources of American exceptionalism
Although the petition of right emerged as an early mechanism for holding the Crown accountable, it possessed certain shortcomings.
(90) Most significantly, the Parliament of 1628 forced Charles to accept the Petition of Right, by which he acknowledged that no person could be compelled to make a "Guift[,] Loane[,] Benevolence[,] Taxe or such like Charge without comon consent by Acte of Parliament." (91) Sometimes described as one of the three most important constitutional documents circumscribing monarchial power, (92) the Petition of Right theoretically hogtied the King's legal authority to raise money on his own.
The appropriations power and sovereign immunity
Charles II was not foolish enough to question the Magna Carta or the Petition of Right, but he proceeded to undermine the local charters that had undone his father.
Like the Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, and the Declaration of Right, the Bill of Rights emphasizes due process, spelling out rights against unreasonable search and seizure, forced confessions, and trial without jury.
The rise of limited government
Coke created the first English Petition of Rights in 1627, which foreshadowed the Anglo-American bills of rights.
In further appreciation of Dr. Bonham's case
In 1628, provoked by Charles' use of such tyrannical methods to crush dissent, Parliament presented him a Petition of Rights. Elements of that petition prefigure our own Bill of Rights: It demanded an end to summary imprisonment without just cause, the quartering of soldiers in private homes, and the use of martial law measures during peacetime.
Bush's "Star Chamber": White House determination to try "enemy combatants" secretly is reminiscent of the despotic "Star Chamber" courts of England's King Charles I. (War on Terrorism)

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