An Act for the Regulating the Privy Council and for taking away the Court commonly called the Star Chamber.
[July 5, 1641. Statutes of the Realm, v. 110. 17 Car. I. cap. 10. See Hist. of Engl. ix. 404.]
Virginia Code: Title 1 General Provisions
Chap. 2.1 Common Law and Rules of Construction, §§ 1-200 — 1-257
Art. 1 Common Law and Acts of Parliament, §§ 1-200 — 1-201
§ 1-201. Acts of Parliament. — The right and benefit of all writs, remedial and judicial, given by any statute or act of Parliament, made in aid of the common law prior to the fourth year of the reign of James the First, of a general nature, not local to England, shall still be saved, insofar as the same are consistent with the Bill of Rights and Constitution of this Commonwealth and the Acts of Assembly.
§ 1-200. The common law. — The common law of England, insofar as it is not repugnant to the principles of the Bill of Rights and Constitution of this Commonwealth, shall continue in full force within the same, and be the rule of decision, except as altered by the General Assembly.
I. Whereas by the Great Charter many times confirmed in Parliament, it is enacted that no freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold or liberties or free customs, or be outlawed or exiled or otherwise destroyed, and that the King will not pass upon him or condemn him but by lawful judgment of his Peers or by the law of the land; and by another statute made in the fifth year of the reign of King Edward the Third1 , it is enacted that no man shall be attached by any accusation nor forejudged of life or limb, nor his lands, tenements, goods nor chattels seized into the King’s hands against the form of the Great Charter and the law of the land 2 : and by another statute made in the five-and-twentieth year of the reign of the same King Edward the Third 3 , it is accorded, asseuted and established that none shall be taken by petition or suggestion made to the King or to his Council, unless it be by indictment or presentment of good and lawful people of the same neighbourhood where such deeds be done, in due manner or by process made by writ original at the common law, and that none be put out of his franchise or freehold unless he be duly brought in to answer and forejudged of the same by the course of the law, and if anything be done against the same, it shall be redressed and holden for none: and by another statute made in the eight-and-twentieth year of the reign of the same King Edward the Third4 , it is amongst other things enacted that no man of what estate or condition soever he be shall be put out of his lands or tenements, nor taken nor imprisoned nor disinherited without being brought in to answer by due process of law: and by another statute made in the two-and-fortieth year of the reign of the said King Edward the Third5 , it is enacted that no man be put to answer without presentment before Justices or matter of record, or by due process and writ original according to the old law of the land, and if anything be done to the contrary, it shall be void in law and holden for error: and by another statute made in the six-and-thirtieth year of the same King Edward the Third6 , it is amongst other things enacted, that all pleas which shall be pleaded in any Courts before any of the King’s Justices, or in his other places or before any of his other ministers, or in the Courts and places of any other Lords within the realm, shall be entered and enrolled in Latin: and whereas by the statute made in the third year of King Henry the Seventh1 , power is given to the Chancellor, the Lord Treasurer of England for the time being, and the Keeper of the King’s Privy Seal, or two of them calling unto them a Bishop and a Temporal Lord of the King’s most honourable Council, and the two Chief Justices of the King’s Bench and Common Pleas for the time being, or other two Justices in their absence, to proceed as in that Act is expressed for the punishment of some particular offences therein mentioned: and by the statute made in the one-and-twentieth year of King Henry the Eighth2 , the President of the Council is associated to join with the Lord Chancellor and other Judges in the said statute of the third of Henry the Seventh mentioned: but the said Judges have not kept themselves to the points limited by the said statute, but have undertaken to punish where no law doth warrant, and to make decrees for things having no such authority, and to inflict heavier punishments than by any law is warranted; and forasmuch as all matters examinable or determinable before the said Judges, or in the Court commonly called the Star Chamber, may have their proper remedy and redress, and their due punishment and correction by the common law of the land, and in the ordinary course of justice elsewhere, and forasmuch as the reasons and motives inducing the erection and continuance of that Court do now cease, and the proceedings, censures and decrees of that Court have by experience been found to be an intolerable burden to the subjects, and the means to introduce an arbitrary power and government: and forasmuch as the Council Table hath of late times assumed unto itself a power to intermeddle in civil causes and matters only of private interest between party and party, and have adventured to determine of the estates and liberties of the subject contrary to the law of the land and the rights and privileges of the subject, by which great and manifold mischiefs and inconveniences have arisen and happened, and much uncertainty by means of such proceedings hath been conceived concerning men’s rights and estates: for settling whereof and preventing the like in time to come, be it ordained and enacted by the authority of this present Parliament, that the said Court commonly called the Star Chamber, and all jurisdiction, power and authority belonging unto or exercised in the same Court, or by any of the Judges, Officers or Ministers thereof be, from the first day of August in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred forty and one, clearly and absolutely dissolved, taken away, and determined; and that from the said first day of August neither the Lord Chancellor or Keeper of the Great Seal of England, the Lord Treasurer of England, the Keeper of the King’s Privy Seal, or President of the Council, nor any Bishop, Temporal Lord, Privy Councillor, or Judge, or Justice whatsoever, shall have any power or authority to hear, examine or determine any matter or thing whatsoever in the said Court commonly called the Star Chamber, or to make, pronounce or deliver any judgment, sentence, order or decree, or to do any judicial or ministerial act in the said Court: and that all and every Act and Acts of Parliament, and all and every article, clause, and sentence in them and every of them, by which any jurisdiction, power or authority is given, limited or appointed unto the said Court, commonly called the Star Chamber, or unto all or any the Judges, Officers or Ministers thereof, or for any proceedings to be had or made in the said Court, or for any matter or thing to be drawn into question, examined or determined, there shall, for so much as concerneth the said Court of Star Chamber, and the power and authority thereby given unto it be, from the said first day of August, repealed and absolutely revoked and made void.
II. And be it likewise enacted, that the like jurisdiction now used and exercised in the Court before the President and Council in the Marches of Wales; and also in the Court before the President and Council established in the northern parts; and also in the Court commonly called the Court of the Duchy of Lancaster, held before the Chancellor and Council of the Court; and also in the Court of Exchequer of the County Palatine of Chester, held before the Chamberlain and Council of that Court; the like jurisdiction being exercised there, shall, from the said first day of August one thousand six hundred forty and one, be also repealed and absolutely revoked and made void, any law, prescription, custom or usage; or the said statute made in the third year of King Henry the Seventh; or the statute made the one-and-twentieth of Henry the Eighth; or any Act or Acts of Parliament heretofore had or made to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding; and that from henceforth no court, council, or place of judicature shall be erected, ordained, constituted, or appointed within this realm of England or dominion of Wales, which shall have, use or exercise the same or the like jurisdiction, as is or hath been used, practised or exercised in the said Court of Star Chamber.
III. Be it likewise declared and enacted by authority of this present Parliament, that neither His Majesty nor his Privy Council have or ought to have any jurisdiction, power or authority by English bill, petition, articles, libel, or any other arbitrary way whatsoever, to examine or draw into question, determine or dispose of the lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods or chattels of any the subjects of this kingdom, but that the same ought to be tried and determined in the ordinary Courts of Justice and by the ordinary course of the law.
IV. And be it further provided and enacted, that if any Lord Chancellor or Keeper of the Great Seal of England, Lord Treasurer, Keeper of the King’s Privy Seal, President of the Council, Bishop, Temporal Lord, Privy Councillor, Judge, or Justice whatsoever, shall offend or do anything contrary to the purport, true intent and meaning of this law; then he or they shall for such offence forfeit the sum of £500 of lawful money of England unto any party grieved, his executors or administrators, who shall really prosecute for the same, and first obtain judgment thereupon to be recorded in any Court of Record at Westminster by action of debt, bill, plaint or information, wherein no essoine1 , protection, wager of law, aid, prayer, privilege, injunction or order of restraint shall be in any wise prayed, granted or allowed, nor any more than one imparlance; and if any person against whom any such judgment or recovery shall be had as aforesaid, shall after such judgment or recovery offend again in the same, then he or they for such offence shall forfeit the sum of £1000 of lawful money of England unto any party grieved, his executors or administrators, who shall really prosecute for the same, and first obtain judgment thereupon to be recorded in any Court of Record at Westminster by action of debt, bill, plaint or information, in which no essoine, protection, wager of law, aid, prayer, privilege, injunction or order of restraint shall be in any wise prayed, granted or allowed, nor any more than one imparlance. And if any person against whom any such judgment or recovery shall be had as aforesaid, shall after such judgment or recovery offend again in the same kind, and shall be thereof duly convicted by indictment, information or any other lawful way or means, that such person so convicted shall be from thenceforth disabled and become by virtue of this Act incapable ipso facto to bear his and their said office and offices respectively, and shall be likewise disabled to make any gift, grant, conveyance or other disposition of any his lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods or chattels, or to take any benefit of any gift, conveyance or legacy to his own use.
V. And every person so offending shall likewise forfeit and lose unto the party grieved, by anything done contrary to the true intent and meaning of this law, his treble damages which he shall sustain and be put unto by means or occasion of any such act or thing done, the same to be recovered in any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record at Westminster by action of debt, bill, plaint or information, wherein no essoine, protection, wager of law, aid, prayer, privilege, injunction or order of restraint, shall be in any wise prayed, granted or allowed, nor any more than one imparlance.
VI. And be it also provided and enacted, that if any person shall hereafter be committed, restrained of his liberty or suffer imprisonment [by the order or decree of any such Court of Star Chamber or other Court aforesaid, now or at any time hereafter having or pretending to have the same or like jurisdiction, power or authority to commit or imprison as aforesaid, or by the command or warrant of the King’s Majesty, his heirs or successors, in their own person or by the command or warrant of the Council Board or of any of the Lords or others of His Majesty’s Privy Council1 ], that in every such case every person so committed, restrained of his liberty, or suffering imprisonment, upon demand or motion made by his counsel or other employed by him for that purpose unto the Judges of the Court of King’s Bench or Common Pleas in open Court, shall, without delay upon any pretence whatsoever, for the ordinary fees usually paid for the same, have forthwith granted unto him a Writ of Habeas Corpus to be directed generally unto all and every sheriff’s gaoler, minister, officer or other person in whose custody the party committed or restrained shall be, and the sheriff’s gaoler, minister, officer or other person in whose custody the party so committed or restrained shall be, shall at the return of writ and according to the command thereof, upon due and convenient notice thereof given unto him [at the charge of the party who requireth or procureth such writ, and upon security by his own bond given to pay the charge of carrying back the prisoner if he shall be remanded by the Court to which he shall be brought, as in like cases hath been used, such charges of bringing up and carrying back the prisoner to be always ordered by the Court if any difference shall arise thereabout1 ], bring or cause to be brought the body of the said party so committed or restrained unto and before the Judges or Justices of the said Court from whence the same writ shall issue in open Court, and shall then likewise certify the true cause of such his detenior or imprisonment, and thereupon the Court, within three court days after such return made and delivered in open Court, shall proceed to examine and determine whether the cause of such commitment appearing upon the said return be just and legal or not, and shall thereupon do what to justice shall appertain, either by delivering, bailing or remanding the prisoner. And if anything shall be otherwise wilfully done or omitted to be done by any Judge, Justice, officer or other person aforementioned, contrary to the direction and true meaning hereof, that then such person so offending shall forfeit to the party grieved his treble damages, to be recovered by such means and in such manner as is formerly in this Act limited and appointed for the like penalty to be sued for and recovered.
VII. Provided always and be it enacted, that this Act and the several clauses therein contained shall be taken and expounded to extend only to the Court of Star Chamber, and to the said Courts holden before the President and Council in the Marches of Wales, and before the President and Council in the northern parts, and also to the Court commonly called the Court of the Duchy of Lancaster, holden before the Chancellor and Council of that Court, and also in the Court of Exchequer of the County Palatine of Chester, held before the Chamberlain and Council of that Court, and to all Courts of like jurisdiction to be hereafter erected, ordained, constituted or appointed as aforesaid, and to the warrants and directions of the Council Board, and to the commitments, restraints, and imprisonments of any person or persons made, commanded or awarded by the King’s Majesty, his heirs or successors, in their own person or by the Lords and others of the Privy Council and every one of them.
VIII. And lastly, provided and be it enacted, that no person or persons shall be sued, impleaded, molested or troubled for any offence against this present Act, unless the party supposed to have so offended shall be sued or impleaded for the same within two years at the most after such time wherein the said offence shall be committed.
[A] THE BLACK LETTER LAW OF THE UNITED STATES SAYS THIS ABOUT Statutes of the Realm, v. 110. 17 Car. I. cap. 10. See Hist. of Engl. ix. 404.
The Constitution of the United States of America [a] Article 6 ¶ 2 “ This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.”
(1)The Definitive Treaty of Peace 1783 Paris, third day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three;
(2)Treaty of Ghent – Treaty of Peace and Amity between His Britannic Majesty and the United States America.(the twenty fourth day of December one thousand eight hundred and fourteen);
The Constitution of the United States of America
[b]14th Amendment Section 1. Citizenship Rights Not to Be Abridged by States. — All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The Constitution of the United States of America
5th Amendment (1791)
[c] No person shall . . . [b]e deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
42 U.S. Code Chapter 21 – CIVIL RIGHTS | Subchapter 1
[d] § 1983 – Civil action for deprivation of rights
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.
42 U.S. Code § 1985 – Conspiracy to interfere with civil rights
(2) Obstructing justice; intimidating party, witness, or juror
If two or more persons in any State or Territory conspire to deter, by force, intimidation, or threat, any party or witness in any court of the United States from attending such court, or from testifying to any matter pending therein, freely, fully, and truthfully, or to injure such party or witness in his person or property on account of his having so attended or testified, or to influence the verdict, presentment, or indictment of any grand or petit juror in any such court, or to injure such juror in his person or property on account of any verdict, presentment, or indictment lawfully assented to by him, or of his being or having been such juror; or if two or more persons conspire for the purpose of impeding, hindering, obstructing, or defeating, in any manner, the due course of justice in any State or Territory, with intent to deny to any citizen the equal protection of the laws, or to injure him or his property for lawfully enforcing, or attempting to enforce, the right of any person, or class of persons, to the equal protection of the laws;
(3) Depriving persons of rights or privileges
If two or more persons in any State or Territory conspire or go in disguise on the highway or on the premises of another, for the purpose of depriving, either directly or indirectly, any person or class of persons of the equal protection of the laws, or of equal privileges and immunities under the laws; or for the purpose of preventing or hindering the constituted authorities of any State or Territory from giving or securing to all persons within such State or Territory the equal protection of the laws; or if two or more persons conspire to prevent by force, intimidation, or threat, any citizen who is lawfully entitled to vote, from giving his support or advocacy in a legal manner, toward or in favor of the election of any lawfully qualified person as an elector for President or Vice President, or as a Member of Congress of the United States; or to injure any citizen in person or property on account of such support or advocacy; in any case of conspiracy set forth in this section, if one or more persons engaged therein do, or cause to be done, any act in furtherance of the object of such conspiracy, whereby another is injured in his person or property, or deprived of having and exercising any right or privilege of a citizen of the United States, the party so injured or deprived may have an action for the recovery of damages occasioned by such injury or deprivation, against any one or more of the conspirators.
[d] 42 U.S. Code § 1986 – Action for neglect to prevent
Every person who, having knowledge that any of the wrongs conspired to be done, and mentioned in section 1985 of this title, are about to be committed, and having power to prevent or aid in preventing the commission of the same, neglects or refuses so to do, if such wrongful act be committed, shall be liable to the party injured, or his legal representatives, for all damages caused by such wrongful act, which such person by reasonable diligence could have prevented; and such damages may be recovered in an action on the case; and any number of persons guilty of such wrongful neglect or refusal may be joined as defendants in the action; and if the death of any party be caused by any such wrongful act and neglect, the legal representatives of the deceased shall have such action therefor, and may recover not exceeding $5,000 damages therein, for the benefit of the widow of the deceased, if there be one, and if there be no widow, then for the benefit of the next of kin of the deceased. But no action under the provisions of this section shall be sustained which is not commenced within one year after the cause of action has accrued.
[e] 42 U.S. Code § 1988 – Proceedings in vindication of civil rights
(a) Applicability of statutory and common law
The jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters conferred on the district courts by the provisions of titles 13, 24, and 70 of the Revised Statutes for the protection of all persons in the United States in their civil rights, and for their vindication, shall be exercised and enforced in conformity with the laws of the United States, so far as such laws are suitable to carry the same into effect; but in all cases where they are not adapted to the object, or are deficient in the provisions necessary to furnish suitable remedies and punish offenses against law, the common law, as modified and changed by the constitution and statutes of the State wherein the court having jurisdiction of such civil or criminal cause is held, so far as the same is not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States, shall be extended to and govern the said courts in the trial and disposition of the cause, and, if it is of a criminal nature, in the infliction of punishment on the party found guilty.
(b) Attorney’s fees
In any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of sections 1981, 1981a, 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1986 of this title, title IX of Public Law 92–318 [20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.], the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 [42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.], the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 [42 U.S.C. 2000cc et seq.], title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 [42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.], or section 12361 of title 34, the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity such officer shall not be held liable for any costs, including attorney’s fees, unless such action was clearly in excess of such officer’s jurisdiction.
(c) Expert fees
In awarding an attorney’s fee under subsection (b) in any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of section 1981 or 1981a of this title, the court, in its discretion, may include expert fees as part of the attorney’s fee.
[B] THE BLACK LETTER LAW OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA SAYS THIS ABOUT Statutes of the Realm, v. 110. 17 Car. I. cap. 10. See Hist. of Engl. ix. 404.
Title 1 General Provisions
Chap. 2.1 Common Law and Rules of Construction, §§ 1-200 — 1-257
Art. 1 Common Law and Acts of Parliament, §§ 1-200 — 1-201
[a] § 1-201. Acts of Parliament. — The right and benefit of all writs, remedial and judicial, given by any statute or act of Parliament, made in aid of the common law prior to the fourth year of the reign of James the First, of a general nature, not local to England, shall still be saved, insofar as the same are consistent with the Bill of Rights and Constitution of this Commonwealth and the Acts of Assembly. (Code 1919, § 3, § 1-11; 2005, c. 839.)
Title 1 General Provisions
Chap. 2.1 Common Law and Rules of Construction, §§ 1-200 — 1-257
Art. 1 Common Law and Acts of Parliament, §§ 1-200 — 1-201
[b] § 1-200. The common law. — The common law of England, insofar as it is not repugnant to the principles of the Bill of Rights and Constitution of this Commonwealth, shall continue in full force within the same, and be the rule of decision, except as altered by the General Assembly. (Code 1919, § 2, § 1-10; 2005, c. 839.)
Title 1 General Provisions
Chap. 2.1 Common Law and Rules of Construction, §§ 1-200 — 1-257
Art. 2 Rules of Construction and Definitions, §§ 1-202 — 1-257
[c] § 1-248. Supremacy of federal and state law. — The Constitution and laws of the United States and of the Commonwealth shall be supreme. Any ordinance, resolution, bylaw, rule, regulation, or order of any governing body or any corporation, board, or number of persons shall not be inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States or of the Commonwealth. (Code 1919, § 5; Code 1950, § 1-13; 1950, p. 22, § 1-13.17; 2005, c. 839.)
Title 1 General Provisions
Chap. 2.1 Common Law and Rules of Construction, §§ 1-200 — 1-257
Art. 2 Rules of Construction and Definitions, §§ 1-202 — 1-257
[d] § 1-213. Delegation of duties assigned to political subdivision. — The governing body of a political subdivision shall be responsible for any duty or responsibility imposed upon its political subdivision. (1986, c. 239, § 1-17.2; 1987, c. 471; 1988, c. 273; 2005, c. 839.)[1 ] 5 E. III. c. 9.
[2 ] Magna Carta, 9 H. III. c. 29.
[3 ] 25 E. III. st. 5. c. 4.
[4 ] 28 E. III. c. 3.
[5 ] 42 E. III. c. 3.
[6 ] 36 E. III. c. 15.
[1 ] 3 H. VII. c. 1. § 1.
[2 ] 21 H. VIII. c. 20.
[1 ] Allegation of absence from lawful reasons.
[1 ] Annexed to the original Act in a separate schedule.
[1 ] Annexed to the original Act in a separate schedule ✉ P. O. Box 65002 / Virginia Beach / Virginia / 23467-5002 / ☎ 757 – 818 – 8003
*Disclaimers/Notices/Imputed Knowledge [1] Va. Code § 8.1A-202: | *Reporter/Relator: noun. a person who relates or tells; narrator. Law. a private person on whose suggestion or complaint certain writs, are issued and whose position is analogous to that of a plaintiff.; female relatrix. The relator appears as one beneficially interested, but the action is maintained on his behalf. : a party other than the plaintiff upon whose information, knowledge, or relation of facts an action is brought when the right to bring the action is vested in another: as / a : the private person who brings a qui tam action /b : a party who has standing and on whose behalf a writ is petitioned for by the state as plaintiff; [2]Regarding Electronic Signature: If this communication concerns the negotiation of a contract or agreement, electronic signature rules do not apply to this communication; [3] contract formation in this matter shall occur only with manually-affixed original signatures on original documents. [4] No negotiations respecting any item ( including repairs), such as talking about that/any item (s)or securing estimates for same shall not in any way obligate The VIRGINIA NEWS SOURCE™ [VNS™] to that item or repair(s) discussed, nor shall VNS™ or its Client be held liable for any damage(s)for failure not to include/honor the same unless obligated to do so by the terms set forth in a contract negotiated by the parties with the aforesaid manually affixed signatures. The foregoing comments are copyright © MMXXIII VNS™ and may not be copied, redistributed, extracted from, or recirculated outside of this mailing without written consent by VNS™.
C:\Users\Owner\Documents\WP60\1 VNS\CIVICS LESSONS\Regulating the Privy Council and for taking away the Court commonly called the Star Chamber\An Act for the Regulating the Privy Council and for taking away the Court commonly called the Star Chamber.wpd
