Abstract
This chapter explores two different aspects of the impact of Magna Carta in New Zealand’s first hundred years. It first considers the legal cases in which Magna Carta was discussed then looks at the apparent place of Magna Carta in public discourse about law and individual rights in New Zealand, as reflected in articles and letters in the newspapers. Magna Carta was frequently invoked as a guarantor of individual rights, especially in the 1920s when the Magna Carta Day Society was active. That idealized view is contrasted with a thin stream of revisionist writings, and with assertions that Māori—and later Samoans—facing prosecution for political activities could not be afforded Magna Carta rights.
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Finn, J. (2017). Symbol and Myth: Magna Carta in Legal and Public Discourse About Law and Rights in New Zealand, 1840−1940. In: Winter, S., Jones, C. (eds) Magna Carta and New Zealand. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58439-3_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58439-3_5
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