Triennial Acts
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The Triennial Act 1641 (16 Cha. I c. 1)[1] (also known as the Dissolution Act) was an Act passed on 15 February 1641,[2][3] by the English Long Parliament, during the reign of King Charles I. The act requires that the Parliament meet for at least a fifty-day session once every three years. It was intended to prevent Kings from ruling without Parliament, as had been done between 1629 and 1640. If the king failed to call Parliament, the Lord Chancellor was required to issues writs, and failing that, the House of Lords could assemble and issue writs for the election of the House of Commons. Clause 11 was unusual because it explicitly stated that this Bill would have Royal assent before the end of the Parliamentary Session, because at the time bills did not customarily gain Royal consent until after the end of the Session, that would have meant that without this clause this law would not have come into force until the next Parliament.[3]
In 1664, it was repealed by the Triennial Parliaments Act 1664 (16 Cha. II c. 1),[4] though the requirement that a Parliament be called least once in three years was kept, though there was no mechanism to enforce the requirement, and as such Charles was able to rule for the last four years of his reign without calling a Parliament.
Under the Triennial Act 1694 (6 & 7 Will. & Mar. c. 2)[5][6] Parliament met annually and held general elections once every three years. The country now remained in a grip of constant election fever (10 elections in 20 years) and loyalties among MPs were difficult to establish. This increased faction and rivalry. In 1716, the Septennial Act was created, under which a parliament could remain in being for seven years. This Act, the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 eventually led to Parliament having control over the country.
[edit] References and notes
- ^ 'Charles I, 1640: An Act for the preventing of inconveniences happening by the long intermission.of Parliaments.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628-80 (1819), pp. 54-7. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47212. Date accessed: 27 February 2007.
- ^ Using the Julian Calendar with the start of year adjusted to 1 January (see Old Style and New Style dates)
- ^ a b 27. The Triennial Act, Constitution Society Accessed 7 May 2008
- ^ 'Charles II, 1664: An Act for the assembling and holding of Parliaments once in Three years at the least, And for the repeal of an Act entitled An Act for the preventing of Inconveniences happening by the long Intermission of Parliaments.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628-80 (1819), p. 513. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47354. Date accessed: 5 March 2007.
- ^ 'William and Mary, 1694: An Act for the frequent Meeting and calling of Parliaments [Chapter II Rot. Parl. pt. 1. nu. 2.]', Statutes of the Realm: volume 6: 1685-94 (1819), p. 510. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=46421. Date accessed: 16 February 2007.
- ^ Official text of the 1694 Act as amended and in force today within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database
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