The exact text of Magna Carta 1297, clause 29, as it appears in the enrolled statute, is:
“NO Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the Land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.”
Several things are worth noting precisely about that text.
The word used is Freeman – not person. This is the living man of free status. Not a legal character. Not a persona. The protection runs directly to the Freeman as a real being.
The word condemn appears – not merely penalise or fine. The protection is against condemnation – a finding against the man – without lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
The word peers means equals – men of the same standing judging a man. This is the foundation of the right to trial by jury.
The phrase by the Law of the Land is significant and frequently misread. It does not mean by whatever law Parliament happens to pass. At the time of Magna Carta it meant the established common law – the customary law of the realm – not administrative instruments or delegated legislative instruments.
The second sentence – We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right – is directed at the Crown and at all who exercise authority under the Crown. Justice is not a commodity. It cannot be sold, denied, or deferred.
The word man appears throughout. Not person. Not legal character. The living man.
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