Magna Carta: what is the medieval law document business owners are trying to use to defy lockdown rules - and is it still in effect?

A West Yorkshire salon owner cited Clause 61 to try and keep her business open
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Businesses in England have been quoting the Magna Carta to try and avoid closing during the national lockdown.

After Boris Johnson placed the country under the harshest Covid restrictions on 5 November, some business owners have been trying to stay open by citing a clause within the ancient charter, which was drawn up in 1215.

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One of said business owners was Sinead Quinn, who runs a hair salon in West Yorkshire which she kept open after the lockdown was implemented.

English business owners have been citing the Magna Carta to defend their decisions not to close their venues during lockdown (Shutterstock)English business owners have been citing the Magna Carta to defend their decisions not to close their venues during lockdown (Shutterstock)
English business owners have been citing the Magna Carta to defend their decisions not to close their venues during lockdown (Shutterstock)

She used the Magna Carta to defend her decision.

Here’s what happened - and if the Magna Carta really does give people the right to defy lockdown laws.

What happened when a West Yorkshire salon refused to close?

Sinead Quinn refused to close her business Quinn Blakey Hairdressing, in the village of Oakenshaw, near Bradford when England was placed under national lockdown.

Magna Carta is an eight-hundred year-old English legal charter (Shutterstock)Magna Carta is an eight-hundred year-old English legal charter (Shutterstock)
Magna Carta is an eight-hundred year-old English legal charter (Shutterstock)

Quinn tried to use the Magna Carta to defend her decision to keep her salon open, citing Clause 61 which offered barons the right to lawfully rebel if they thought they were being governed unjustly.

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She also stuck up a notice on her salon window which quoted the medieval document.

The owner was issued with a £1,000 fine on November 9, a £2,000 fine on November 12, a £4,000 fine on November 21, and a £10,000 fine on November 23.

The council also issued a £10,000 fine on November 24 but withdrew this after speaking with West Yorkshire Police again and realising that no customers were seen on the premises.

Quinn has been fined a total of £17,000 by the council.

She also shared videos of herself on Instagram arguing with council officials and police, which have since gone viral.

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In one clip, she tells them she does not consent to the fines and cites “common law” in her defence.

According to council statistics, Kirklees was one of the most infected areas in England in November with a rate of 446.4 cases per 100,000 people.

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What is the Magna Carta?

Sinead Quinn is not the only person to have cited the ancient Magna Carta to claim legal immunity, with other businesses also giving the charter as a reason not to close.

Magna Carta, Latin for “great charter”, is a royal charter drawn up in 1215 following disputes between King John and a group of rebel barons.

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The charter was intended to limit the power of the reigning monarch and give the 25 barons certain rights.

Its original version granted the barons power to “assail” the monarch and “seek redress”, but these powers were not extended to the wider population.

However, this first Magna Carta was declared null and void by the Pope on the grounds that it interfered with the King’s authority.

It was then reissued in various forms, with the 1225 version forming the basis of common law we use today, although much of it has since been repealed.

What is Clause 61?

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Clause 61, or Article 61, of Magna Carta is the specific part of the charter that some business owners believe grants them immunity to lockdown rules and allows them to lawfully dissent.

Known as the “security clause”, it gave the barons the right to form a committee who could take action against the King if he failed to honour the freedoms given to them by the charter.

Clause 61 set out rules for 25 specific barons and did not allow the general public to rebel against the King.

The full clause states: “The barons shall elect twenty-five of their number to keep, and cause to be observed with all their might, the peace and liberties granted and confirmed to them by this charter.

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“If we, our chief justice, our officials, or any of our servants offend in any respect against any man, or transgress any of the articles of the peace or of this security, and the offence is made known to four of the said twenty-five barons, they shall come to us - or in our absence from the kingdom to the chief justice - to declare it and claim immediate redress.

“If we, or in our absence abroad the chief justice, make no redress within forty days, reckoning from the day on which the offence was declared to us or to him, the four barons shall refer the matter to the rest of the twenty-five barons, who may distrain upon and assail us in every way possible, with the support of the whole community of the land, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, or anything else saving only our own person and those of the queen and our children, until they have secured such redress as they have determined upon.”

The original 1215 Magna Carta had 63 clauses, but only four of them are still relevant today, and Clause 61 is not one of them.

It was omitted from the following versions of the charter and was never incorporated into English law.

Does it give businesses the right to defy lockdown laws?

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It is not the case that the Magna Carta, along with Clause 61, can be used by business owners to protect them against Covid-19 closures.

This is because it was never intended to be used by the general population to rebel, and since it was also removed from subsequent versions of the charter.

As it was never incorporated into English statutory law, it is not a valid defence against lockdown rules and fines.

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