Magna Carta – as the conceptual predecessor of the rule of law concept in the middle ages

Abstract

The 1215 Magna Carta, or the Great Charter of the Liberties as a legal document, that according to its historical-philosophical origin is an idea embodiment about an origin of the king’s power from «a common law» which provided for «the universal recognition of mutual rights and duties» between the governor and his citizens. As for the historical-political origin, this document appeared as a result of resistance to lawlessness from the monarch as attempt to put the king into a certain legal framework. Finally, the philosophical-legal contents of this document, in the author’ opinion, gives the answer to the question: «Which should be supreme – the rule of law or will of a ruler?». Subsequently, provisions of the Great Charter had a great influence on the development of such human rights, as the right to life and the right to freedom, and also many procedural guarantees which in turn played an important role in the formation of the rule of law concept.