Petition of Right

The Petition of Right, passed in 1628, is one of the major English constitutional documents that remains part of the United Kingdom’s uncodified constitution. The petition sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing, making it a forerunner of the U.S. Constitution.

The Petition is most notable for its confirmation of the principles that taxes can be levied only by Parliament, that martial law may not be imposed in time of peace, and that prisoners must be able to challenge the legitimacy of their detentions through the writ of habeas corpus. The Petition’s ban on the quartering of troops is reflected in the Third Amendment to the United States Constitution.