[Jiggly]

I recently came across this story about a hair salon owner in the UK, who is trying to use the Magna Carta to bypass Covid restrictions/laws.



What is the Magna Carta?
For those who may not be familiar, the Magna Carta is an English royal charter of rights, signed by King John in 1215, aimed at bringing peace between the King and his Barons. It's often considered part of the early foundations of British Law, and ultimately sowing the seed for development of democracy over the following 800 years.

How is the Magna Carta being used to defy Covid laws/restrictions?
In this particular instance, business owners are citing Article 61 of the Magna Carta, claiming that it allows for lawful dissent of laws made by the government if individuals feel they are not being governed appropriately. Business owners also believe that it means that they don’t have to close under Covid-19 regulations.

Is this actually legal and legit?
Short answer: Not even a little bit.
Long answer: For a start, the Magna Carta applies to 25 specific barons at the time of King John signing the Magna Carta in 1215. This NEVER applied to the general population. The Pope then very quickly declared it void on the basis that it went against the authority of the King (believed to be divine at that time). Civil war broke out in England (yet again), resulting in new versions of the Magna Carta being reissued. British Law today is based on one of the versions issued in 1225. Article 61 was not included in subsequent versions and was NEVER incorporated into British Law, naturally making it inapplicable today. In fact, only 4 of the original 63 clauses are technically relevant today, none of which include article 61. A short google search can tell you this. Also, one could just outright read what the Magna Carta's article 61 said:

Code:

The barons shall elect twenty-five of their number to keep, and cause to be observed with all their might, the peace and liberties granted and confirmed to them by this charter. If we, our chief justice, our officials, or any of our servants offend in any respect against any man, or transgress any of the articles of the peace or of this security, and the offence is made known to four of the said twenty-five barons, they shall come to us – or in our absence from the kingdom to the chief justice – to declare it and claim immediate redress. If we, or in our absence abroad the chief justice, make no redress within forty days, reckoning from the day on which the offence was declared to us or to him, the four barons shall refer the matter to the rest of the twenty-five barons, who may distrain upon and assail us in every way possible, with the support of the whole community of the land, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, or anything else saving only our own person and those of the queen and our children, until they have secured such redress as they have determined upon. Having secured the redress, they may then resume their normal obedience to us.” Any man who so desires may take an oath to obey the commands of the twenty-five barons for the achievement of these ends, and to join with them in assailing us to the utmost of his power.

Much of my explanations are based on this source.

[Oni]

"I am a living persons and statutory regulations only apply with my consent."

If only the world worked that way...

[Jiggly]

"I am a living persons and statutory regulations only apply with my consent."

If only the world worked that way...

It is a bit of a "have you been living under a rock" moment.