It has its origins in the fourteenth century and is said to
have derived from a room in the Palace of Westminster decorated with a starred
ceiling where the King and his privy council met. Initially, it served the
valuable role as a "conciliar court" which were convened at short
notice to deal with urgent matters. Initially well regarded because of its
speed and flexibility, it was made up of Privy Counsellors, as well as
common-law judges, and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity
courts in both civil and criminal matters. In a sense, the court was a
supervisory body, overseeing the operations of lower courts, though its members
could hear cases by direct appeal as well. The court was set up to ensure the
fair enforcement of laws against prominent people, those so powerful that
ordinary courts could never convict them of their crimes.
In 1487, a Star Chamber Act was enacted setting up a special
tribunal to deal with subversive activities within the King's household. In
theory, the Star Chamber could only take cognisance of a matter if there was a
good reason to interfering with the ordinary processes of law. In practice, it
meant that it heard cases and impose punishments in matters where no actual
crime had been committed but, in the subjective opinion of the court, were considered
morally reprehensible. The sort of matters coming before it would now
constitute offences such as conspiracy, libel, forgery, perjury, riot,
conspiracy and sedition. Henry VII and Henry VIII, in particular, used the
power of the Star Chamber to break the powerful nobles who opposed his reign.
Prosecutions were brought by the Attorney General and prisoners tried summarily
by affidavit and interrogation (which very often included torture). Punishments
included fines, imprisonment, pillory, branding or loss of an ear. It did not
have the power to order a death sentence.
It's more sinister side began to emerge by the end of the
fifteenth and into the sixteenth century when it began to lose its "civil"
side, and notwithstanding its inability to mete out death, by the reign of
Charles I, the Star Chamber had achieved a terrible reputation for severity and
tyranny.
Charles I routinely used the Star Chamber Charles to examine
cases of sedition, which meant that the court could be used to suppress
opposition to royal policies. It came to be used to try nobles too powerful to
be brought to trial in the lower court. During the time of Charles "personal
rule", he ruthlessly stamped down on the freedom of the press and
religious and political dissenters. William Prynne, Alexander Leighton,
John Bastwick and Henry Burton, all appeared before the Star Chamber for their
views on religious dissent. William Prynne, for example, was a puritan who
published a number of tracts opposing religious feast days and entertainment
such as stage plays. The latter was construed as a direct attack on the Queen
and in 1634 he was sentenced in the Star Chamber to life imprisonment, a fine
of £5000, he was stripped of his qualifications and membership of Lincolns Inn
and lost both his ears in the pillory.
It was the treatment of John Lilburne that eventually led to
the abolition of the Star Chamber. As you will have read in Keith Livesey's
post, John was a Leveller ("Free born John"). In 1637 he was arrested
for publishing unlicensed books (one of them by William Prynne). In that time
all printing presses had to be officially licensed. John was brought before the
Star Chamber In his examinations, he refused to take the oath known as the
'ex-officio' oath (on the ground that he was not bound to incriminate himself),
and thus called in question the court's usual procedure. On 13 February 1638 he
was sentenced to be fined £500, whipped, pilloried, and imprisoned till he
obeyed.
On 18 April 1638 Lilburne was flogged with a three-thonged whip
on his bare back, as he was dragged by his hands tied to the rear of an ox cart
from Fleet Prison to the pillory at Westminster. He was then forced to stoop in
the pillory where he still managed to campaign against his censors while
distributing more unlicensed literature to the crowds. He was then
gagged. Finally, he was thrown in prison. He was taken back to the court and
again imprisoned. During his imprisonment in Fleet he was cruelly treated.
While in prison he, however, managed to write and to get printed in 1638 an
account of his own punishment styled The Work of the Beast and in 1639 an
apology for separation from the church of England, entitled Come out of her, my
people. John spent the next few years going back and forth between the Star
Chamber and prison.
In 1640, the King's personal rule ended and he was forced to
reconvene Parliament. Incensed by John Lilburne's treatment at the hands of the
Star Court, John Pym led a campaign to abolish it and in 1640 one of the most
significant pieces of legislation in the western world was enacted, the Habeus
Corpus Act. This Act abolished the Star Chamber and declared that anyone
imprisoned by order of the king, privy council, or any councilor could apply
for a writ of habeas corpus (literally meaning "release the body")
and it required that all returns to the writ "certify the true cause"
of imprisonment. It also clarified that the Court of Common Pleas
had jurisdiction to issue the writ in such cases (prior to which it was argued
that only the King's Bench could issue the writ). On this statute stands our
basic right to a fair trial.
Despite the rights of Habeas Corpus, "Star Chambers"
still creep into our modern age. In modern American history, for
example, the best example of star chamber proceedings was the
conduct of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (1938-1975) which used its
subpoena power to intimidate citizens by asking them unconstitutional questions
about their political beliefs and associations and then charging them with
contempt of Congress for refusing to answer. Another example was the conduct of
criminal proceedings against black defendants in some southern states from 1876
until the late 1960s. As a lawyer I have my doubts about the proceedings
against the Guantamo Bay detainees but this is probably not the time and place
to discuss these issues.
References:
An Introduction to Legal History J.H. Baker
Luminarium, Encyclopedia Project
http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/starchamber.htm
http://www.alisonstuart.com
http://www.hoydensandfirebrands.blogspot.com
