The Rule Of Law: The Petition Of Right Of 1628

The rule of law is a key constitutional principle that is the basis of legal justice. In explaining the legitimacy of the law, it stands as the cornerstone principle of the UK constitution. Given the fact that the UK does not have a codified constitution that establishes “the arrangements by which it is to be governed, nor does it have a set of core values by which the state is to be run” it has been described as “an integrated expression of historical experience conferring a unified meaning on political existence” , thus causing the rule of law to exist to a greater or a lesser extent, and to consequently evolve over centuries. Though several other constitutional principles, such as the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy and the principle
However, there is much evidence in history that suggest that even after having been signed by King John in 1215, its principles were not unswervingly accepted and applied. The Petition of Right of 1628 serves as an illustration of this, as, being established four decades after Magna Carta, it reiterated that “no freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseized” of freehold or liberties but “by the lawful judgement of his peers” or “by the law of the land” . Thus, if the rule of law had been strictly applied, the Petition of Right of 1628 would hardly have been necessary. Furthermore, the Petition of Right also aimed at allowing the right of habeas corpus, introduced through the Magna Carta, to mature, as it provided that no individual could be punished or detained except by way of law. Darnel’s case in 1627 stands as a landmark case in English history due to its contribution to the enactment of the Petition of Right, thus its role in developing the upholding of the rule of law, and protection of citizens against arbitrary use of power. In this case, Thomas Darnel, John Corbet, Walter Earl, John Heveningham, and Edmund Hampden petitioned King's Bench for a writ of habeas corpus to be set free after having arbitrarily
More recently, the enactment of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, and the consequent removal of the Lord Chancellor from the House of Lords along with the creation of the supreme court, clearly separated the judiciary from the executive and legislature, thus supporting the principle of separation of powers and ensuring that the law is enforced impartially by judges who are independent of all authority, but that of the rule of law . The rule of law clearly has not always been the bedrock principle of the UK constitution but it has been gradually embedded into the constitution through history by means of statutory recognition and case law.

Parliamentary sovereignty is another principle underlying the UK Constitution, which denotes that the Westminster Parliament has the legal authority to pass, amend, or repeal any law it wishes; hence appearing as a