Lady Hale delivers lecture on Magna Carta’s legacy in UK and US

Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court, Lady Hale (pictured), delivered a lecture to the US Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington D.C. at the beginning of this month on Magna Carta and its enduring influence in the legal systems of the UK and USA.

This week saw the 800th anniversary of the date it is understood King John set his seal on the first edition of Magna Carta.

Lady Hale’s introduction states: “Both our Supreme Courts are surrounded by reminders of Magna Carta.

“The great doors into this building are adorned with a bronze relief of King John granting the Charter in 1215 and an original of the 1297 Charter is the first document the visitor to your National Archives sees before going upstairs to view the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

“Above the doors leading into the building which now houses the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is a stone relief of King John granting the Charter; and engraved on the glass doors leading from the entrance hall into our library is a facsimile of the 1225 Charter, with its most famous guarantee highlighted: ‘to no-one will we sell, to no-one will we deny or delay right or justice’.”

Read the full address here - Magna Carta: Our Shared Heritage.