Haxey's case (1397) Rotuli Parliamentorum (iii) 434, is a leading case in English law that established the right to free speech within Parliament. In January 1397, Sir Thomas Haxey presented a petition to Parliament, criticising the costs of King Richard II of England's household. The king was affronted and, with the collusion of Thomas Arundel, insisted that Haxey be punished for treason. Haxey was deprived of his title and his possessions. On deposing Richard in 1399, Henry IV of England successfully petitioned Parliament to reverse its judgment against Haxey as "…against the law and custom which had been before in Parliament."
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“Of all my prosecutors ... not one is my peer, but each and all are my political sovereigns; and had your honor submitted my case to the jury, as was clearly your duty, then I should have had just cause of protest, for not one of those men was my peer; but, native or foreign born, white or black, rich or poor, educated or ignorant, sober or drunk, each and every man of them was my political superior; hence, in no sense, my peer.”
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