Magna Carta is more of an idea than a document
On June 15, Britain, America and several other English-speaking countries marked the 800th anniversary of what is now considered to be the foundational document of constitutional democracy, the Magna Carta. In popular imagination, the Magna Carta's contribution to freedom, liberty, equality and social justice — values that we hold so dear today — is unparalleled, and not entirely without reason.
Its influence can be seen in the post-colonial founding documents of many countries such as the American Bill of Rights and the Constitutions of India, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, who led their people against oppressive regimes, held up the Magna Carta as a source of inspiration.
Between the 17th and 20th centuries, the document emerged as a powerful rallying point for those demanding better representation in Government as well as universal suffrage. The Magna Carta is also to be found in the ideological bedrock of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, most recently, has been invoked by the man who created the World Wide Web to argue for Net neutrality. The Magna Carta is a powerful symbol, no doubt; but, as its glorious legacy is celebrated around the world, it is important to acknowledge that the document, as it was conceived in the English riverside town of Runnymeade in 1215 was, rather insipid, and that it was, in fact, the forces of history and time that added layers of meaning and significance to what can best be described as the Idea of the Magna Carta.
The original Magna Carta was just a peace pact between the terribly unpopular King John and his rebellious barons who had tired of his excessive taxation. It was an executive instrument that limited the King's powers (and it was not the first document to so) to protect the feudal lords — not the commoners.
Most of the 63 clauses in the Magna Carta dealt with mundane administrative issues such as the removal of fishtraps that were blocking river-commerce in the Thames and the standardisation of weights and measures to facilitate trade. Some of the clauses even discriminated on the basis of gender (preventing women from testifying in most murder cases) and race (Jews, usually money-lenders, were restricted on the interest that they could charge).
And the one clause that is considered to be the Magna Carta's lasting legacy — “No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned... save by the law of the land” — was applicable only to noblemen as they were the only “free men” in those days. They clauses had little universal or eternal value — which makes the Magna Carta's hallowed position today even more surprising. In contrast, the Charter of the Forest, which was separated from the Magna Carta and signed in 1217, giving commoners access to the Crown Forests, has almost been forgotten.