Humble Petition of the British Subjects. In 1773 the British government established the Supreme Court of...

Humble Petition of the British Subjects. In 1773 the British government established the Supreme Court of Judicature for Bengal. Controversially, the court limited the use of juries to criminal cases, while at the same time it effectively extended English law to Indians in the region by admitting their lawsuits. As this petition shows, the Supreme Court was resented by many British expatriates, who felt that it weakened their authority and undermined 'the Great Charter of British Liberties'. Ill-feeling reached its peak in the 1779 civil trial of James Creassy, Superintendent of Public Works in Calcutta, who was denied the right to trial by jury for the assault, battery and false imprisonment of two Hindu carpenters. Creassy's case was the catalyst for this petition, bearing 647 signatures, to the House of Commons in London. It called for the restriction of legal actions by Indians and the re-establishment of the 'inherent, unalienable and indefeasible' rights granted to Englishmen in Magna Carta.