Existing comment:
The Petition of Right
In 1628, opponents of King Charles I in the House of Commons resolved to create a petition of right to oppose the extraordinary means used by the king to raise funds without Parliament's approval. Sir Edward Coke chaired the committee that drafted the petition. It passed both houses of Parliament in late May of 1628 and King Charles ratified it on June 7 of that year. The Petition of Right of 1628, which became one of England's most important sources of constitutional law, reaffirmed the liberties guaranteed in Magna Carta, prohibited taxation outside of Parliament and extra-legal imprisonment, and guaranteed the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. |