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The Bill of Rights
The struggle between Crown and parliament had been going on since Tudor times
but the balance tipped in favour of parliament with the 1688 Glorious Revolution.
A group of seven Whigs (the Kit-Kat club) invited
William of Orange and his English wife, Mary Stuart, to become joint rulers
in place of James II. Queen Mary was the daughter of James II. Part of the agreement
was that the joint monarchs should consent to the Bill of Rights, which put
some restrictions on the powers of the Crown.
The Bill of Rights (follow link for the text)
- settled the succession to the throne through the 1702 Act
of Settlement. This ensured a Protestant succession by removing the Stuart
line
- said that no monarch could be, or could marry, a Catholic
- said that parliament was to meet frequently. The 1694 Triennial Act meant
that there had to be a general election every
three years. This was modified by the 1716 Septennial Act. From then, there
had to be a general election every seven years.
This was not changed until the 1911 Parliament Act which established quinquennial
parliaments.
- said that parliament was to be freely elected.
Since the secret ballot was not introduced until 1872, all voters had to elect
MPs by a show of hands.
- said that parliament had to consent to all taxation
- made the Royal dispensing power illegal. The monarch could not put aside
Acts of Parliament.
- forbade the existence of a standing army in peacetime.
- appointed judges 'during good behaviour'. This meant that so long as judges
did their jobs properly, they could not be dismissed.
- made Royal ministers responsible for all acts of State. Ministers could
not now plead Royal pardon if they were impeached by their peers.
The Eighteenth Century Constitution
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Last modified
12 January, 2016
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