On 5 August 2015 the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria hosted a faculty lecture to commemorate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.  Guest lecturer Dr. Joshua C. Tate, Associate Professor of Law at the Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, on the topic “Magna Carta and the Origins of Due Process” provided the audience with different perspectives on Magna Carta illuminating its history and contribution to political and legal culture.

Magna Carta (Latin for “the Great Charter”) has been preserved as a priceless treasure, cherished not only in England and in the Western World, but by all humans everywhere who believe that only under law can humans be truly free. When Magna Carta was created, England had endured 16 years of John’s kingship – a rule based largely on extortion, legal chicanery, blackmail and violence. Frequent conflicts with powerful barons brought the country to the brink of civil war by 1215. Sealed at Runnymede near Windsor that year by King John of England, who ruled from 1199 to 1216, Magna Carta became significant in the evolution of civil rights. Rights included freedom from arbitrary imprisonment; freedom from arbitrary seizure; right to proper courts; freedom from excessive fines; the rights of widows and orphans, freedom of cities and regions, freedom of travel, right to lawful weights and measures, extension of freedoms and rights to others.  Although this Latin document containing 63 clauses did not provide equal protection for all, it did represent a milestone in the history of human rights as it served as a precedent for the growth of constitutional government.