“It was at Runnymede, on June 15, 1215, that the idea of the law standing above the government first took contractual form. King John accepted that he would no longer get to make the rules up as he went along. From that acceptance flowed, ultimately, all the rights and freedoms that we now take for granted: uncensored newspapers, security of property, equality before the law, habeas corpus, regular elections, sanctity of contract, jury trials.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/magna-carta-eight-centuries-of-liberty-1432912022
There is a certain irony beginning to emerge as governments struggle with individual freedoms…
mike