Reasons Behind Magna Carta Influence On The Constitution

By Dominique Martin


The spirit of the Magna Carta has been kept alive for the hundreds of years after its inception. This has mostly been done by lawyers and legislators. The Magna Carta influence on the constitution as a document is an enduring significance.

The celebration of the Magna Carta should not be likened to an ignorant grasp on old constitutional relics. Neither should it be claimed that it lacks modern day relevance. Most leading legal experts can clearly attest to it being a solid foundation to the legal constitutional process.

Its statements are continuously embedded in crucial constitutional doctrines. Among the enthusiasts who champion for the modern day human rights crusade it continues to be referenced. The same applies to the field of law.

One of the significances of this document on the constitutionalism is largely in regard to freedom and power. Its setting largely emanates from a time in which the concentration of ultimate power was vested on a single rulers hands. Long ago the incessant conflicts of succession that preceded a king death was very unfortunate and distractive. This was before primogeniture. The precursor to its adoption in England was so as to prevent the future exploitation of the people as experienced under the Angevin Kings. With a heavily centralized administrative system on trade taxation most of these subjects demanded assurances that everything was ethically conducted not forgetting the preservation of their liberties.

Towards the end of the thirteenth century the idea of a higher form of governing law was provided for. The notion was that no matter what no alteration could be effected on it irrespective of whether it is by the legislature or the executive. This concept was eventually adopted by the forefathers in the American Revolution. When we observe the United States constitution it is embedded in a supremacy clause and accordingly enforced by the judiciary.

At the United Nations they eventual adoption of a Universal Declaration focused on uniting common traditions and values of various nations. We however see its implications of the Magna Carta chapter 29 by the fact that no one should be subjected to detention, arbitrary arrest or exile altogether. On the spirit of the document, its resonance via modern day human rights declarations is more than an enough indicator that it does not require any form of scorn. The strong relationship between the contemporary human rights protections have created a whole new dimension.

There was no better way in history that the rule of law or constitutionalism process has been accorded with much significance as during the manifestation of Magna Carta. Different scholars have always given their various assessments on the same, with many claiming it was due to a societal structural shift. In the end the powerful centralized administrations eventually would have to accept that the power bestowed to government should always be exercised in line with custom, principle and law.

The next instance that anyone would marvel at our highly representative democracy, constitutionally-driven government, and the bill of rights not forgetting the rule of law that is reveled in many nations worldwide; a sneak reminiscence of the document that claims the inception of the idea should be remembered. A good number of its statutes may not be applicable nowadays. Despite this the ability of citizens to guarantee their rights presented a monumental advance in the formation of our modern democracies




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