The Freemen of the Land is a concept that has been much criticised. It is a concept in which people think that the only laws that affect them are the ones which they state so. Already you can see some issues here… This is a topic that links in with the Cestui Que Vie Act 1666, in the fact that people use this as a way of declaring themselves “Freemen of the Land”. So let's go and explore this concept and see what we can pull out.
So where does this concept of Freemen of the Land start? The Magna Carta. Yes, over 800 years old and still there… Only three sections are still relevant, but who's counting… The first major issue that people have on this is”What is the definition of a Freeman of the land”. The thing is, how do you define something which doesn't exist. The Attorney General's office has no record of the term, The Law Society gives a little bit of background, and there are a few other’s.
The one that gave the best description was one that I have not recorded (if I can find it I will edit this bit). It showed that the concept of “Freeman of the land” in the Magna Carta was a misunderstanding. Freeman of the Land was a term that meant (In today's tongue) “anyone”. So, The other thing that we need to keep in mind is that there are only three sections of the “Magna Carta” still in force; the establishment of the “City of London”, The establishment of due process, the role of church in government. Good so far eh?
So now that we have some context from where this comes from, how many people are out there that claim this? Well, in 2010 Torbay Council had 3 people register themselves as “Freemen”, but as they state they hold no legal grounds for this and do not even honour it. Make me wonder about Wales, on this one…
So how would this affect us as society? The more that I look into this, the more the bizarre nature of humanity come apparent. Here is a small tasting of the nature of “freemen of the land”
- Do I still have to pay the TV licence (Basically)
Pretty good amount of stuff, isn't it? This isn't really about the FoI, this is more about the insight into human behaviour. Really, it shows the lack of knowledge about people and their understanding of the law. I am defiantely going to investigate this further as this seems to be the sort of thing that gets me. The thing that gets me, is that if this was real, then why are more people not aware of this and why are the government struggling to get the tax money that it needs to keep running?
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