Each year, in 2014, 2015 and 2016, between 80 and 100 delegates from across the country gathered at Runnymede to debate and draft a modern Magna Carta for the nation. These Magna Carta Constitutional Conventions were devised by Dr Matthew Smith, Trustee of Egham Museum, to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Great Charter.
Supported by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Amnesty International, the National Centre for Citizenship and the Law, Royal Holloway, University of London, and Brunel University, the conventions are held at Royal Holloway’s campus in Egham, just a few hundred metres from Runnymede.
Professor Justin Champion of Royal Holloway writes:
“The Constitutional Conventions provide an important opportunity for young minds to not only engage with the important traditions embodied in Magna Carta and its legacy, but also to interact with each other and distinguished experts from the world of law and ideas, in refining their own attitudes to the importance of liberty and freedom in the modern world. It is a moment of important dialogue between the past, the present and the future.”
The initial series of conventions, held in the Summer terms of 2014, 2015 and 2016, are sponsored by a small number of independent schools as part of their commitment to wider public benefit and are accompanied by a series of online resources and a digital delegates competition.
Dr Matthew Smith, Trustee of Egham Museum, said:
“Magna Carta has been a touchstone of debate for centuries, invoked by radicals and revolutionaries, reformers and conservatives. It is therefore fitting that here in Runnymede, at its birthplace, we are commemorating the 800th anniversary of the charter by encouraging that same spirit of debate, looking less at the medieval document and more at the idea and symbolism of Magna Carta.”
