Bill of Rights 1689

The Bill of Rights 1689 was a direct response to the abuses of King James II, whose pro-Catholic policies and claims to absolute power alarmed the Protestant establishment. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, William of Orange and Mary were invited to take the throne on condition that they accept a declaration of rights drawn up by the Convention Parliament. This declaration was later enacted as the Bill of Rights, which was formally assented to on 16 December 1689.¹ The Act confirmed the succession to William and Mary and stipulated that no Catholic or spouse of a Catholic could inherit the crown, a provision that remains in force today.

The Bill of Rights is often seen as a statement of fundamental rights, but it is primarily a constitutional settlement that redefined the relationship between crown and Parliament. It declared that the pretended power of suspending laws by royal authority without parliamentary consent is illegal, and that the levying of money for the crown without grant of Parliament is likewise illegal. It affirmed the right of subjects to petition the king, the right to a free election of members of Parliament, and the freedom of speech and debate in Parliament, which should not be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament. It also prohibited excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments, and asserted the right of Protestants to have arms for their defence suitable to their condition and as allowed by law.

The Bill of Rights 1689 is one of the key instruments that form the uncodified British constitution, alongside Magna Carta, the Petition of Right 1628, and the Act of Settlement 1701. It established the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, meaning that Parliament is the supreme legal authority and can make or overturn any law. It also influenced the United States Constitution and its Bill of Rights, particularly the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments and the Second Amendment's right to bear arms.² In the United Kingdom, the Bill of Rights remains in force and has been supplemented by the Human Rights Act 1998, which incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law.

One lesser-known aspect is that the Bill of Rights also addressed the issue of standing armies in peacetime, declaring that the raising or keeping of a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against law. This provision was a direct response to James II's maintenance of a large standing army. Another obscure detail is that the Act was originally titled 'An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown.' It also contained a clause that required the sovereign to be a Protestant and to take a coronation oath to maintain the Protestant religion. The Bill of Rights was not the first document to limit royal power, but it was the first to be enacted by a Parliament that had been elected on a broadly representative basis, and it set a precedent for later constitutional reforms, such as the Act of Settlement 1701, which further restricted the succession.

Convention Parliament

The Parliament that met in 1689 after James II fled, which offered the crown to William and Mary.

Glorious Revolution

The largely bloodless overthrow of James II in 1688, which brought William and Mary to the throne.

Parliamentary sovereignty

The principle that Parliament is the supreme legal authority in the UK and can enact or repeal any law.

Act of Settlement 1701

A later Act that further restricted the succession to the throne to Protestant heirs.