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Ch17 Documents / PETITIONS



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House of Representatives                                Ch 17                                                 p 611

 

Documents

 

Petitions

The right of petitioning the Crown and Parliament for redress of grievances dates back to the reign of King Edward I in the 13th century. It was from petitions that legislation by bill was gradually derived. Petitions have indeed been described as ‘the oldest of all parliamentary forms, the fertile seed of all the proceedings of the House of Commons’. 1

The form and purpose of petitions changed over the centuries, the present form having developed in the 17th century. The rights of petitioners and the power of the House of Commons to deal with petitions were affirmed by the following resolutions in 1669:

That it is an inherent right of every Commoner of England to prepare and present petitions to the House in case of grievance; and of the House of Commons to receive them.

That it is the undoubted right and privilege of the House of Commons to adjudge and determine, touching the nature and matter of such Petitions, how far they are fit and unfit to be received. 2



J. Redlich, The procedure of the House of Commons: a study of its history and its present form , Constable, London, 1918, vol. II, p. 239.



J. Hatsell, Precedents of proceedings in the House of Commons with observations , 4th edn, Hansard, London, 1818, vol. III, p. 240.