The barons are innocent, but what of the Lord Chancellors?
Three of the world's top judicial minds recently declared the Magna Carta barons not guilty of treason, in a special event organised by the UK Supreme Court.
The mock trial, which was arranged to celebrate the 800th anniversary of 'the Great Charter', saw two senior barristers, James Eadie QC for the prosecution, and Nathalie Lieven QC for the defence, debate whether the evil King John's actions in the run-up to 1215 justified the terms the barons forced him to agree to in the form of Magna Carta.
The president of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger, alongside Justice Stephen Breyer of the US Supreme Court, and Dame Sian Elias, the chief justice of New Zealand, decided to spare the barons from a terrible fate of being hung, drawn, and quartered before a baying mob of lawyers, academics, and journalists.
Lord Neuberger said: 'In relation to each type of treason, it is necessary to show that the action complained of was "unjustified". For the reasons given so eloquently and clearly by my two colleagues, I would hold that, in all the circumstances, the prosecution has failed to show that the defendants' actions were unjustified. Accordingly, I, too, would acquit Baron Fitzwalter and the other 24 defendants of the charge of the treason.'
Professor David Carpenter, who played Baron FitzWalter, said: 'I agree that the barons should have treated John with more respect. Had they not humiliated him after Runnymede, the country might have been spared the subsequent civil war. On the other hand, I think the verdict broadly supporting Magna Carta is absolutely right. It would have been right then and it is right now.'
Commenting on the ruling, the comedy writer and former barrister Clive Anderson, who played King John, said: 'I am sure King John would have been astonished and possibly enraged by this verdict, and would be considering what further steps he could take to deal with the judges and the barons who defied his authority.'
Considering Magna Carta's most famous clause 'to no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice', as well as the impact of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), SJ looks forward to reporting on the Clarke, Grayling, and (possibly) Gove justice trials in another 800 years.
