III.  The Great Statutes of Praemunire, 1393.

This statute, (first passed in 1353) was reenacted in 1393 to check the power claimed by the Pope in England in cases which interfered with power claimed by the King, as in appeals made to the Court of Rome respecting Church matters, over which the King’s court had jurisdiction.  The statute received its name from th ewrit served on the party who had broken the law:  “Praemunire facias, A.B.”; that is, “Cause A.B. to be forewarned” that he appear before us to answer the contempt with which he stands charged.  Henry VIII made use of this statute in order to compel the clergy to accept his supremacy over the English Church (SS265, 346, 348).

IV.  Habeas Corpus Act, 1679.

The name of this celebrated statute is derived from its referring to the opening words of the writ:  “Habeas Corpus ad subjiciendum.”  Sir James Mackintosh declares that the essence of the statute is contained in clauses 39, 40 of Magna Carta—­which see.  The right to Habeas Corpus was conceded by the Petition of Right and also by the Statute of 1640.  But in order to better secure the liberty of the subject and for prevention of imprisonments beyond the seas, the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 was enacted, regulating the issue and return of writs of Habeas Corpus.

The principal provisions of the Act are:  1.  Jailers (except in cases of commitment for treason or felony) must within three days of the reception of the writ produce the prisoner in court, unless the court is at a distance, when the time may be extended to twenty days at the most. 2.  A jailer, refusing ot do this, forfeits 100 pounds for the first offence, and 200 pounds for the second. 3.  No one set at liberty upon any Habeas Corpus to be recommitted for the same offsense except by the court having jurisdiction of the case. 4.  The Act not to apply to cases of debt.

V. Abstract of the Parliament Act (or Veto Act, S631),
   18th August, 1911.

The Preamble states that “it is intended to substitute for the House of Lords, as it at present exists, a Second Chamber constituted on a popular instead of hereditary basis, but such substitution cannot be immediately brought into operation”:  therefore “it is expedient oto make such provision as in this Act appears for restricting the existing powers of the House of Lords” (i.e. the power of the Lords to veto bills sent them by the Commons).

1.  If a Money Bill—­that is, a Public Bill concerning taxation or the appropriation of money or the raising of a loan, etc.—­shall be passed byy the House of Commons, but shall not be passed by the House of Lords, within one month, then it shall become law without the consent of the Lords.

2.  If any Public Bill (other than a Money Bill or a bill providing for the extension of the maximum duration of Parliament beyond five years) shall be passed by the House of Commons in three successive sessions (whether of the same Parliament or not) and shall be rejected by the House of Lords in each of those sessions, “that Bill shall on its rejection for the third time by the House of Lords, unless the House of Commons direct to the contrary, become an Act of Parliament, without the consent of the Lords, provided that two years have elapsed since the Bill was introduced and passed by the House of Commons.”