Ian Holloway

By: Ian Holloway

PDF Version: Why We Should Care About Magna Carta

I write this just as I’m returning to Canada from Runnymede, England. The Queen was there, as were the Duke of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal, and Prince William. The five of us — along with a thousand others from all over the world — were gathered to commemorate, and to celebrate, the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta by King John on June 15, 1215.

So what’s the big deal? Why is it that a document that, as a British civil servant once described it, is nothing more than an archaic piece of paper with no intrinsic value, should attract such attention?

After all, while bits of it continue to have the force of law, the majority of Magna Carta’s provisions reflect little more than an incoherent jumble of individual grievances from King John’s nobles. Moreover, John himself showed his disdain by reneging on the deal a mere nine weeks later. And the Pope formally nullified it as soon as he became aware of its terms.

Oliver Cromwell — someone not normally known for his sense of humour — called it “Magna Farta.”

So why were a thousand of us assembled in an English country meadow this morning?

PDF version: A New Concord Between Bar and Academy? The Governor General’s Speech to the Canadian Bar Association

It is hardly an everyday occurrence for a viceroy to call publicly for a meeting with law deans to talk about legal education. But that is exactly what happened last week in Halifax. In his speech to the annual conference of the Canadian Bar Association, Governor General David Johnston spoke extremely candidly about what he saw as the challenges facing the legal profession today. He did not mince words; the picture he painted of the reality of legal practice in Canada was not soothing. And he laid a stark challenge before all of us who claim to believe that lawyers are the key to the survival of the rule of law.

Author: Ian Holloway

Why We Should Care About Magna Carta

A New Concord Between Bar and Academy? The Governor General’s Speech to the Canadian Bar Association