Bill of Rights 1689 - Provisions of The Act

Provisions of The Act

The Bill of Rights laid out certain basic rights for (at the time) all Englishmen. The Act set out that there should be:

  • no royal interference with the law. Though the sovereign remains the fount of justice, he or she cannot unilaterally establish new courts or act as a judge.
  • no taxation by Royal Prerogative. The agreement of the parliament became necessary for the implementation of any new taxes
  • freedom to petition the monarch without fear of retribution
  • no standing army may be maintained during a time of peace without the consent of parliament.
  • no royal interference in the freedom of the people to have arms for their own defence as suitable to their class and as allowed by law (simultaneously restoring rights previously taken from Protestants by James II)
  • no royal interference in the election of members of parliament
  • the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament
  • "grants and promises of fines or forfeitures" before conviction are void
  • no excessive bail or "cruel and unusual" punishments may be imposed

Certain acts of James II were also specifically named and declared illegal by the Bill of Rights, while James' flight from England in the wake of the Glorious Revolution was also declared to be an abdication of the throne.

Also, in a prelude to the Act of Settlement to come twelve years later, the Bill of Rights barred Roman Catholics from the throne of England as "it hath been found by experience that it is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant kingdom to be governed by a papist prince"; thus William III and Mary II were named as the successors of James VII and II and that the throne would pass from them first to Mary's heirs, then to her sister, Princess Anne of Denmark and her heirs and, further, to any heirs of William by a later marriage. The monarch was further required to swear a coronation oath to maintain the Protestant religion.

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