Existing comment:
Due Process of Law
During the rule of King Edward III (reigned 1327–1377), Parliament enacted six statutes to clarify the meaning and scope of the liberties that Magna Carta guarantees. The statutes interpreted the expression "the law of the land," which appears in Chapter 29, as the judicial procedures that protect a subject's liberties. One of the laws, enacted in 1354, introduced the term "due process of law" -- the first appearance of that phrase in Anglo-American law -- to describe Magna Carta's procedural guarantees. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution evokes this language in its Due Process Clause. |