大衛•萊特曼的深夜秀難題 絆倒英國首相戴維•卡梅倫：大憲章 / British Prime Minister David Cameron on Late Show with David Letterman: Magna Carta

I feel sorry for British Prime Minister David Cameron who was stumped by the host's question on Magna Carta during the Late Show with David Letterman. So what exactly is Magna Carta?　　

根據【維基百科】:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta

大憲章（拉丁語：Magna Carta，英語：The Great Charter）是英國最初於1215年訂立的拉丁文政治性授權文件；但在隨後的版本中，大部分對英國王室絕對權力的直接挑戰條目被刪除；1225年首次成為法律；1297年的英文版本至今仍然是英格蘭威爾斯的有效法律。

大憲章乃封建貴族用來對抗英國國王（主要是針對當時的約翰）權力的封建權利保障協議。訂立大憲章的主因是教皇、英王約翰及封建貴族對王室權力出現意見分歧。大憲章要求王室放棄部分權力，尊重司法過程，接受王權受法律的限制。大憲章是英國在建立憲法政治這長遠歷史過程的開始。然而例如1509年上任的英國國王亨利八世隨意殺害貴族和后妃，之後的瑪麗一世殺害許多新教徒，接下來的伊麗莎白一世又處死貴族表親，當時各地法官也由國王和貴族指派，可見大憲章並未被確實遵守。

I learnt the phrase Magna Carta from my legal counsel colleagues when I was working on the promulgation of government legislation / regulations. More specifically, legal discussions were often linked to a modern interpretation of Clause 29 (clause 39 in the 1215 charter), a right to due process.

According to Wikipedia, Clause 29 states:

NO Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.

But frankly, that's about the limit of what I know abt Magna Carta.

By the way:

Here in Ottawa, Latin words such as Magna Carta, personq non grata, addendum, ad hoc, ad infinitum, affidavit, bona fide, caveat, sine qua non, contra, per diem, habeas corpus, de facto, dictum, erratum, et al., ex officio, in absentia, in camera, incognito, in situ, innuendo, inter alia, modus operandi, omnibus, per se, post mortem, pro forma, pro rata, quid pro quo, sine qua non, subpoena, veto, vice versa, viz., et cetera are often used by journalists, legal counsels, and bureaucrats.

These are just the Latin words that I recognize. For further info, please see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases_(full)