Why all the fuss? It wasn`t a proto bill of rights as so many appear to hink. Magna Carta merely described the limits of kingly power. By the way, it wasn`t British, that was still 500 years in the future. I think we still dres call ourselves English back in 1215.

Greg, Knebworth, England

Jill Owens, New York, USA said:

"We Americans are the only ones left that can and will continue to live by the principles enshrined in the Magna Carta."

Guantanamo Bay, Iraqi prisoner tortures, CIA extraordinary rendition flights.......the list goes on and on.

J Roberts, Manchester, UK

Stan: "I agree with Jill Owens though, that Great Britain is no longer a sovereign nation."

Actually, our membership of the EU today and in the past is based on treaties between sovereign nations. We retain full sovereignty in principle, just not in practice while the treaties hold.

David Jones, Loughborough, UK

Hm, a king who'd lost a pointless foreign war, given up autonomy over the country to a supranational power (the Pope), and was renting the country back from him as a fiefdom, forced to sign a document by a furious chattering class, facing rises in taxes on the wealthiest.

There's got to be a satirical movie in there somewhere.

Ian Kemmish, Biggleswade, UK

I do not understand why people attach such importance to history as a guide to action: historians do not. Our greatest legal historian, F.W. Maitland, made it very clear that the lesson of history is that every generation has the power to shape its own destiny: if politicians fail to respect valued principles, hold them to account, not because an old document, but because what they are doing disagrees with our current values.

How exactly does habeas corpus come from Magna Carta? Writs with similar effect were issued in the century before Magna Carta, and the first known writ in the habeas corpus form is from 1305. There is no evidence of a causative link.

As for no one being above the law and no one being persecuted by power, those are simply anachronistic readings designed to please a modern (or early-modern) reader's sensibilities. Magna Carta did not apply to villeins (the majority of the population), whilst the King was only subject to war if he broke the agreement.

John Scott, London,

May the principles of the Magna Carta always have a place in the hearts of men. I agree with Jill Owens though, that Great Britain is no longer a sovereign nation.

Fortunately, this experiment called the European Union will not outlast me.

Stan, Portland, Oregon, USA

Good idea. Copies of the Magna Carta all round. And all the best people agree.
Would you do me a favor and send a copy of the MC over to Ed Balls? He's got this idea that in the present emergency we need to detain every child in Britain indefinitely in government creches, state schools, and NEET programs--irrespective of the rights of their parents and all without pay. Talk about child labour!
But who gives a monkeys about all of that? Certainly not the best people.
The barons of Runnymede were a pretty self-serving lot, but I'm sure they would have taken a dim view of the King taking their sons away from them as we do today. After all, you need your sons--think of Hotspur--to help raise the odd head of rebellion against the King.

Christopher Chantrill, Seattle, USA

I beg to differ with Jill owens. The copy of magna carta referred to in this article is on permanent display in the visitors' gallery in Parliament House in Canberra. It is encased in a sealed container which maintains a constant temperature and is filled with a halogen - neon, I think. It's principles are well known and respected here and, I believe, were brought to light in the recent release of a terrorism suspect against whom there was a dearth of evidence. Hopefully a rich benefactor will acquire Perot's copy and insist it be exhibited in Washington.

James , Canberra, Australia.

I would prefer that you not regard America as a homogeneous mass ("America should buy Magna Carta next week... and read it again"). There are plenty of us over here who are quite aware that critical principles have been eroded and don't wish to see the trend continue.

E.R. Wyatt, Blountville, Tennessee, USA

I admit I don't know much about the Magna Carta. But it is my impression the the Magna Carta was intended for citizens of a sovereign nation that respect laws, or an organized military that wages war. Would some one please explain to me how it applies to groups of men who conduct a war under their own ideology/religion and without the backing of any Government.

Pat, Chicago, USA

A very good and true description of the Magna Carta. However to even mention the name of THAT TRAITOR Gordon Brown in the same sentence as that most sacred document, would be laughable if not disgusting.

Brown has just made a mockery of the spirit of the Magna Carta, by signing away the freedoms and sovereignty of Great Britain to the corrupt and unelected politicians of that cess pool otherwise known as the EU. All this inspite of it going against the wishes of the majority of the people. So much for democracy.

America may still have lots to learn as a country, with many problems at home and abroad, but it would never ever allow one arrogant, despotic and despised politician to give away it's national sovereignty.

As a Brit expat living in the US, I'm proud of the Magna Carta, and proud of the country I left, but from today my only country is the US. We Americans are the only ones left that can and will continue to live by the principles enshrined in the Magna Carta.

Jill Owens, New York, USA

The various "Sovereigns" who have brought us these horrors, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al, and Tony Blair, will surely not be made to pay for their crimes. In 1947 the US prosecuted and sentenced to 15 years hard labour a Japanese officer for waterboarding a US citizen. The christian fascists are taking over in the name of fighting islamo-fascists.

ray greenwood, charleston, west virginia, usa