"That no man, from henceforth; shall be attached by any
accusation, nor forejudged of life or limb, nor his land, tenements,
goods, nor chattels, seized into the king's hands, against the form
of the Great Charter, and the law of the land." St, 5 Edward III.,
Ch. 9. (1331.)
"Whereas it is contained in the Great Charter of the franchises of
England, that none shall be imprisoned, nor put out of his freehold,
nor of his franchises, nor free customs, unless it be by the law of
the land; it is accorded, assented, and established, that from
henceforth none shall be taken by petition, or suggestion made to
our lord the king, or to his council, unless it be by indictment or
presentment of good and lawful people of the same neighborhood
where such deeds be done in due manner, or by process made by
writ original at the common law; nor that none be put out of his
franchises, nor of his freehold, unless he be duly brought into
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." 8t. 95 Edward III., Ch. 4. (1350.)
"That no man, of what estate or condition that he be, shall be put
out of land or tenement, nor taken, nor imprisond, nor disinherited,
nor put to death, without being brought in answer by due process
of law." 8t. 28 Aboard III., Ch. 3. (1354.)
"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 from
henceforth be done to the contrary, it shall be void in law, and
holden for error." 8t. 42 Edward IIL, Ch. 3. (1368.)
The foregoing interpretation of the words nisi per legem terrae
that is, by due process of law including indictment, &c;., has
been adopted. as the true one by modern writers and courts; as, for
example, by Kent, (2 Comm. 13,) Story, (3 Comm. 661,) and the
Supreme Court of New York, (19 Wendell, 6T6; 4 Hill, 146.)
The fifth amendment to the constitution of the United States seems
to have been framed on the same idea, inasmuch as it provides that
"no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law." [28]
Whether the word VEL should be rendered by OR, or by AND.
Having thus given the meanings, or rather the applications, which
the words vel per legem terrae will reasonably, and perhaps must
necessarily, bear, it is proper to suggest, that it has been supposed
by some that the word vel, instead of being rendered by or, as it
usually is, ought to be rendered by and, inasmuch as the word vel
is often used for et, and the whole phrase nisi per judicium parian
suorun, vel per legem terrae, (which would then read, unless by the
sentence of his peers, and the law of the land,) would convey a
more intelligible and harmonious meaning than it otherwise does.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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