The Bill of Human Rights

There are a lot of documents known to the history, the signing of which affected whole nations. An important place among them is occupied by several bills signed in England and the United States, which will be discussed.

The Bill of England

The Bill of Rights of 1689 is a constitutional act that was adopted by the British government and fundamentally influenced the way of development of a parliamentary monarchy in the state. He became the legal expression of the Glorious Revolution, as a result of which the throne was overthrown by James II Stewart, and his place was occupied by a new monarch - William III of Orange. In order to avoid revolts against the new government, the king agreed to the signing of the Declaration of Rights, which took place on February 13, 1689. Thanks to this document, the monarch was recognized by the lords and communities, and later on it the Bill of Rights was created.

How did the bill affect the crown and the people?

The main innovations mentioned in the document concerned the ratio of powers and the monarch, who now had to obey the acts of parliament. The king was deprived of the opportunity to abrogate the laws of parliament concerning punishments, and to suspend the work of other laws without the consent of the parliament. This led to the fact that the king no longer possessed the highest power in the legislative sphere, in addition, his powers in the field of legal proceedings were made more limited. Also, serious restrictions were imposed on the interaction between the crown and the church. From the moment the bill came into force, the monarch was more incapable of levying taxes on the needs of the people and maintaining the army during the peace period, and the courts for church affairs were closed. The funds necessary for the maintenance of the royal court and the army were allocated for an exceptionally short time, which is why the monarch was forced to apply for subsidies all the time.

What else has the bill changed?

In addition, thanks to the innovations, the parliament received more powers. Now the king was obliged to organize the convocation of the parliament at least every three times, and members of parliament received, albeit conditional, but still free speech. Changes have affected the elective right. The Bill of Rights forbade the involvement of candidates loyal to the throne. In addition, the document proclaimed the possibility of filing petitions, as well as freedom of parliamentary debate. The new laws also defined the principles of representation in parliament, which were calculated in proportion to the tax payable. Although in reality only large bourgeois and aristocrats could be empowered by the right to vote.

The bill and the judiciary

Special sections of the document on rights related to the powers of the judiciary. They determined that courts can not resort to excessively high collateral, fines or even cruel punishments. There was no longer any legal practice of artificial choice of jurors, which could be used to influence the decision of the court.

However, the competence of jury trials increased, they were granted the right to consider any violations found by cases of high treason. Nevertheless, the confiscation of the personal property of the arrested was also banned, even up to and including jury charges. Thus, the bill was intended to stop judicial arbitrariness.

The Bill of Rights did not, nevertheless, affirm direct parliamentary rule, and the king still had the right to elect and dismiss ministers and judges, as well as the opportunity to convene and dissolve the parliament. However, in fact the document marked the introduction of the regime of the renewed constitutional monarchy in England .

The Bill of Rights-1791

This name is the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution, adopted in 1789, which took effect already in 1791. It was a document greatly expanding the rights of ordinary people. Thanks to him, freedom of speech, assembly, press, human immunity, freedom of religion and many other important postulates were proclaimed. This document was the most important turning point in the history of the new state, which ensured personal political rights, as well as freedoms of US residents. The Bill of Human Rights was able to put an end to the sovereignty of the monarch and government, which were very common during the early Middle Ages in Europe and in the era of absolutism.

The background of the document

The main provisions of the new bill were based on a document such as the Magna Carta, signed in Britain in 1215, thanks to which the king's capabilities were considerably limited. The most important point of the document - inviolability of the person - was first officially confirmed in another British document - the Habeas Corpus Act, which was signed on May 27, 1679.

War for independence

After the revolution of 1688, other rights and freedoms were officially fixed. When the war for independence began in the United States, a number of similar documents were signed. All of them summed up in some way what was adopted earlier. For example, the Virginia Bill of Rights. Nevertheless, during the war, guarantees of rights were not provided for opponents of independence.

Federal interaction

The US Bill of Rights had some drawbacks. So, despite the fact that the federal bodies now had strong power, the citizens of the country were not protected from their tyranny. Therefore, James Madison proposed to make some amendments to the constitution. The bill entered into legal force only when Virginia, the former 11th of the 14 states that existed at that time, fully accepted it and ratified it on its territory. Initially, it was considered only as a law that would protect citizens from illegal actions by federal authorities. So, the 14th amendment, adopted in 1866, equalized the white and African-Americans, who could previously be infringed in rights. Later, in 1873 the decision was canceled, considering it unacceptable, but already in 1925 it came into force again, because a decree was issued prohibiting states from creating laws that limit or in some way infringe the rights and liberties of US citizens.

Amendments

The most important point of the bill is considered to be the 1st amendment, which proclaims freedom of the press, speech and assembly. It is on it that the basic rights of US citizens and various associations are based. According to the 2nd Amendment, it was recognized that the states can have a militia, and the people have the right to store and carry weapons with them for their own security. Now there is controversy around this point, as opponents of free sale are trying to be abolished. The 3rd amendment, which prohibits the residence of soldiers in private homes during the peace period, is no longer relevant today. The Bill of Rights, in particular the Fourth Amendment, ensures the inviolability of property and personalities, that is, prohibits any searches by law enforcement agencies without proper authorization. According to the fifth paragraph of the document, a jury trial is introduced, and a person can not be made to testify against himself. The three subsequent amendments are directly related to the proceedings. Point 9 determines that it is impossible to take away from the people the rights that it already uses, and the 10th, in turn, argues that state rights that have not been transferred to the federal government remain inviolable.

The International Bill of Human Rights

This is a series of documents, the totality of which should ensure the rights and freedoms of all people on the planet. The norms contained in these documents are the fundamental principle of the UN international standards on human rights. All states that have signed the International Bill of Rights undertake to provide their citizens with a number of freedoms and rights that must be granted to all equally without discrimination.

Conclusion

All the documents mentioned above, one way or another influenced the current situation of human rights. The first bill, adopted in England, actually initiated the parliamentary monarchy, which allowed to limit the power of the monarch and was in fact the first step on the road to democracy. More revolutionary from this point of view was the American bill, which already guaranteed people not only equal rights in society, but also prohibited any discrimination, but this has not yet become the final point on the way to a free society. The top of democracy, of course, was a number of documents adopted in the UN, which were based on all previously created, but were, so to speak, represented in modern times, which allows them today to provide every person on Earth with equal rights and freedoms.