The Bill of Rights (1689) is one of the basic instruments

The Bill of Rights (1689) is one of the basic instruments of the British constitution, the result of the long 17th-century struggle between the Stuart kings and the English people and Parliament. The Bill of Rights provided the foundation on which the government rested after the revolution of 1688. The Revolution settlement made monarchy clearly conditional on the will of the Parliament and provided a freedom from government of which most Englishmen were notably proud during the 18th century.The main purpose of the act was unequivocally to declare illegal various practices of James II. Among such practices proscribed were the royal prerogative of dispensing with the law in certain cases, the complete suspension of laws without the consent of Parliament, and the levying of taxes and the maintenance of a standing army in peacetime without specific parliamentary authorization. A number of clauses sought to eliminate royal interference in parliamentary matters, stressing that elections must be free and that members of Parliament must have complete freedom of speech. Certain forms of interference in the course of justice were also proscribed. The act also dealt with the proximate succession to the throne, provided the heirs were Protestants. It is the constitutional paper of great importance, which prevented the sovereign from abusing his authority