The right to petition: historical and legal aspects

Abstract

The article analyzes historical and legal aspects of the right to petition. It had determined that the concept of petitioning the authorities dates back to the Magna Carta (1215), which provided for the freedom of barons to petition the king if they felt injustice The author notes that in the XIV century. Petitions gained particular importance due to the collapse of feudalism, the strengthening of political institutions, and the emergence of a strong sovereign with a centralized bureaucracy; in particular, the English monarchs openly encouraged and considered petitions.It had noted that an essential historical stage in the further development of the right to appeal could be considered the Petition of the Right, the purpose of which was to limit the powers of the monarch and included issues of taxation, the application of martial law, imprisonment without trial etc.The author analyzes the further development of petitions in Great Britain and summarizes that the right to petition arose from the need to maintain relations between the community and state authorities long before the election period.The historical aspect of the right to petition in the USA is analyzed. It had determined that in 1789, the US Congress included the right to petition and other freedoms in the US Constitution’s First Amendment.It had noted that the intensification of petitioning had connected with the suffragette movement in the USA.Features of forming and developing the right to petition in France had described. It indicated that petitions gained central importance during the Great French Revolution when they became a true expression of the will of citizens to participate in public life.The author points out that the right to submit petitions belonged to the civil rights of a person along with such rights as the right to freedom, the right to freedom of movement and choice of residence, the right to assemble peacefully, and others.The article pays special attention to the peculiarities of forming petitions in the European Union. It emphasized that Article 21 of the EU Treaty and the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights established the right to submit petitions. Submitting petitions, requirements for petitions, and submission subjects considered separately.The author concludes that petitions were important not only in terms of whether their requests granted at all but also because of the connection they created between representatives and the represented in the era before universal suffrage.