In the Glorious Revolution, William of Orange landed with his army in England on 5 November 1688. King James VII of Scotland, who was also King of England and Ireland as James II, attempted to resist the invasion. He then sent representatives to negotiate, and he finally fled England on 23 December 1688.
Whilst the Convention Parliament in England declared that James, as King of England, had abdicated the Government, and issued an English Bill of Rights on 13 February 1689 offering the Crown of England to William and Mary, the Scots found themselves facing a more difficult constitutional problem. As James had not been present in Scotland during the crisis and had not fled from Scottish territory in December, it would be highly dubious to claim that he had abdicated the Scottish throne.
Process
Therefore, a Convention of the Scottish Estates met to consider letters received on 16 March 1689 from the two contenders for the Crown. On 4 April they voted to remove James VII from office, drawing on George Buchanan's argument on the contractual nature of monarchy.[2]
Later that month, the Convention adopted the Claim of Right and the Article of Grievances, enumerating what they saw as the contemporary requirements of Scottish constitutional law. It also declared that, because of his actions in violation of these laws,[3] James had forfeited the Scottish throne.[4]
The Convention proceeded to offer the crown on the basis of these documents to William and Mary, who accepted it on 11 May 1689, and were proclaimed King and Queen of the Scots as William II and Mary II, though with subsequent controversy over whether the Claim of Right articles against Episcopacy were fully accepted by the new monarchy.[2]
Provisions of the Act
The Act includes the passage:
That for redress of all grievances and for the amending strenthening and preserving of the lawes Parliaments ought to be frequently called and allowed to sit and the freedom of speech and debate secured to the members
Significance
The effect of the Claim of Right was to "bolster the position of parliament within the Scottish constitution at the expense of the royal prerogative".[5] It was affirmed by an Act of the Scottish Parliament of 1703 (Act Ratifieing the turning of the Meeting of the Estates in the year 1689, into a Parliament c. 3).[6] The Act was retained by the Parliament of the United Kingdom after the Acts of Union 1707.
In 2019, the Act was cited by MPs seeking a court ruling that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's September 2019 prorogation of Parliament was unlawful. The Court of Session Outer House judge, Lord Doherty found the claim was non-justiciable, and that if it was justiciable then there was no breach of the Claim of Right.[6] The Inner House allowed the appeal, ruling the issue justiciable and the prorogation unlawful, since its true purpose was to "stymie Parliamentary scrutiny of government action". However, it said this was not a consequence of peculiarities of Scots law or the Claim of Right.[7]
^Harris, Tim Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy 1685–1720 Allen Lane (2006) pp. 401–402
^ abJoanna Cherry QC MP and Others for Judicial Review [2019 CSOH 70] (4 September 2019) (Scotland). Para 30
^Joanna Cherry QC MP and Others v The Advocate General [2019] CSIH 49 (11 September 2019) (Scotland). "This is not because of the terms of the Claim of Right 1689 or of any speciality of Scots constitutional law, it follows from the application of the common law, informed by applying 'the principles of democracy and the rule of law' (Moohan v Lord Advocate 2015 SC (UKSC) 1, Lord Hodge at para [35]). The terms of the Claim of Right are not breached simply because Parliament does not sit for a month or so. Parliament has, throughout the year, been allowed to sit."
External links
Text of the Claim of Right Act 1689 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
January 16, 2023
claim, right, 1689, claim, right, redirects, here, other, uses, claim, right, disambiguation, wikisource, original, text, related, this, article, claim, right, claim, right, passed, convention, estates, sister, body, parliament, scotland, three, estates, april. Claim of Right redirects here For other uses see Claim of Right disambiguation Wikisource has original text related to this article Claim of Right The Claim of Right c 28 is an Act passed by the Convention of the Estates a sister body to the Parliament of Scotland or Three Estates in April 1689 It is one of the key documents of United Kingdom constitutional law and Scottish constitutional law Claim of Right 1 Parliament of ScotlandLong titleThe Declaration of the Estates of the Kingdom of Scotland containing the Claim of Right and the offer of the Croune to the King and Queen of England Citation1689 c 28Territorial extent Kingdom of ScotlandStatus Current legislationText of statute as originally enactedRevised text of statute as amended Contents 1 Background 2 Process 3 Provisions of the Act 4 Significance 5 References 6 External linksBackground EditIn the Glorious Revolution William of Orange landed with his army in England on 5 November 1688 King James VII of Scotland who was also King of England and Ireland as James II attempted to resist the invasion He then sent representatives to negotiate and he finally fled England on 23 December 1688 Whilst the Convention Parliament in England declared that James as King of England had abdicated the Government and issued an English Bill of Rights on 13 February 1689 offering the Crown of England to William and Mary the Scots found themselves facing a more difficult constitutional problem As James had not been present in Scotland during the crisis and had not fled from Scottish territory in December it would be highly dubious to claim that he had abdicated the Scottish throne Process EditTherefore a Convention of the Scottish Estates met to consider letters received on 16 March 1689 from the two contenders for the Crown On 4 April they voted to remove James VII from office drawing on George Buchanan s argument on the contractual nature of monarchy 2 Later that month the Convention adopted the Claim of Right and the Article of Grievances enumerating what they saw as the contemporary requirements of Scottish constitutional law It also declared that because of his actions in violation of these laws 3 James had forfeited the Scottish throne 4 The Convention proceeded to offer the crown on the basis of these documents to William and Mary who accepted it on 11 May 1689 and were proclaimed King and Queen of the Scots as William II and Mary II though with subsequent controversy over whether the Claim of Right articles against Episcopacy were fully accepted by the new monarchy 2 Provisions of the Act EditThe Act includes the passage That for redress of all grievances and for the amending strenthening and preserving of the lawes Parliaments ought to be frequently called and allowed to sit and the freedom of speech and debate secured to the membersSignificance EditThe effect of the Claim of Right was to bolster the position of parliament within the Scottish constitution at the expense of the royal prerogative 5 It was affirmed by an Act of the Scottish Parliament of 1703 Act Ratifieing the turning of the Meeting of the Estates in the year 1689 into a Parliament c 3 6 The Act was retained by the Parliament of the United Kingdom after the Acts of Union 1707 In 2019 the Act was cited by MPs seeking a court ruling that Prime Minister Boris Johnson s September 2019 prorogation of Parliament was unlawful The Court of Session Outer House judge Lord Doherty found the claim was non justiciable and that if it was justiciable then there was no breach of the Claim of Right 6 The Inner House allowed the appeal ruling the issue justiciable and the prorogation unlawful since its true purpose was to stymie Parliamentary scrutiny of government action However it said this was not a consequence of peculiarities of Scots law or the Claim of Right 7 References Edit The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by the Statute Law Revision Scotland Act 1964 section 2 and Schedule 2 Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19 2 of the Interpretation Act 1978 a b Lynch Michael 1992 Scotland A New History Pimlico p 302 ISBN 0 7126 9893 0 Claim of Right Act 1689 legislation gov uk Retrieved 19 October 2022 Wikisource Claim of Right Harris Tim Revolution The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy 1685 1720 Allen Lane 2006 pp 401 402 a b Joanna Cherry QC MP and Others for Judicial Review 2019 CSOH 70 4 September 2019 Scotland Para 30 Joanna Cherry QC MP and Others v The Advocate General 2019 CSIH 49 11 September 2019 Scotland This is not because of the terms of the Claim of Right 1689 or of any speciality of Scots constitutional law it follows from the application of the common law informed by applying the principles of democracy and the rule of law Moohan v Lord Advocate 2015 SC UKSC 1 Lord Hodge at para 35 The terms of the Claim of Right are not breached simply because Parliament does not sit for a month or so Parliament has throughout the year been allowed to sit External links EditText of the Claim of Right Act 1689 as in force today including any amendments within the United Kingdom from legislation gov uk Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Claim of Right 1689 amp oldid 1127018941, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
