Richard III's Laws

Blind Justice:  On the first day of his reign, June 26, 1483, Richard addressed his judges and lawyers and instructed them to dispense justice without regard to a person's rank in society, or their wealth and power. This was revolutionary in a feudal society that rested on inequality, and eventually it was to cost him his throne.


Presumption of Innocence:  Richard's laws had one goal in common: To protect the innocent. Until Richard III, bail was available only to those convicted of a crime. They would be assessed a fine and released upon payment. Therefore, if trial could be avoided-- as it often was -- a person could be kept imprisoned indefinitely. Richard III gave bail to those accused of a crime so they would be free until trial. In his own words:




“The law shall cease to be an instrument of oppression and extortion.”


Richard III also made it illegal to seize a man's property untill he stood convicted of the crime of which he was accused. Before Richard III, such property was seized upon accusation Together, these two laws constitute the Presumption of Innoence that is so dear to Anglo-jurisprudence.


Jury System:  Before Richard's time the jury system didn't work well, since juries were packed with itinerants, and verdicts were routinely bought and sold. Richard III reformed the jury system with protections against bribery and tainted verdicts, and declared that anyone who serves on a jury should be of good repute and must own property in the shire. Today we exclude felons from the jury pool for this reason.


Clear Title:  Richard III gave us the economic protection of “Clear Title” so unscrupulous sellers of land couldn't sell the same property multiple times to innocent buyers. Today we rely on this protection each time we buy a piece of property. For most of us that is our home.


There are many other ways in which Richard III impacts our lives today, but his legacy has been erased by the Tudors, the folks who gave us some of the most repellent monarchs in British history -- Henry VII, Henry VIII, and Bloody Mary.

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