
English Bill of Rights (1689)
- The lords & common at Westminster represent all the people in the country & met on 2/13/1688 (Unfortunately, that was a Friday) presenting to King William & Queen Mary a declaration
- The late & not so great James II tried to get rid of Protestantism & our nation’s laws & liberties
- He took the power to dispense with laws without Parliament’s permission
- Punishing those wishing to have nothing to do with that
- Establishing a Royal Court for Church causes
- Taxing the people for his own pocket money
- Raising & keeping a standing army in peacetime without Parliament’s permission
- Disarming Protestants & arming Catholics
- Blocking elected MPs from serving in Parliament
- Prosecuting in his own court people in an arbitrary manner
- Juries were staffed with crooks & loons, especially in cases of treason
- Setting excessively high bails
- Inordinate fines & cruel/illegal punishments
- Fining the accused before a verdict was issued
- All abominable actions
- Since James abdicated, Parliament is asking the Prince of Orange to uphold our laws, customs & religion
- In order to prevent the actions above from happening again, Parliament states
- Suspending laws without Parliament’s consent is illegal
- Dispensing with laws is illegal
- Establishing a church court is illegal
- Raising taxes for your own pocket money without Parliament’s consent is illegal
- It’s the right of your subjects to petition the king – attempts to block that are illegal
- Raising & keeping a standing army in peacetime without Parliament’s permission is illegal
- Protestants may have arms for defense
- Free elections of MPs are going to happen!
- Freedom of speech & debates in Parliament can’t be impeached or questioned in any court except in Parliament
- No excessive bail, fines, or cruel & unusual punishment
- Jurors for cases high treason must be freeholders
- Grants/promises of fines & forfeitures for particular people are illegal
- To redress grievances & amend laws, parliament is to be held frequently
- Nothing is to be done without Parliament’s permission!!