Petition

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A petition is a request to an authority, most commonly a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer.

In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some official & signed by numerous individuals. A petition may be oral rather than written, and in this era may be transmitted via the Internet. The term also has a specific meaning in the legal profession as a request, directed to a court or administrative tribunal, seeking some sort of relief such as a court order.

Petitions were a common form of protest and request to the British House of Commons in the 18th and 19th centuries, the largest being the Great/People's Charter, or petition of the Chartists. They are still presented in small numbers.

The Petition Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right of the people "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The right to petition has been held to include the right to file lawsuits against the government.

Petitions are commonly used in the U.S. to qualify candidates for public office to appear on a ballot; while anyone can be a write-in candidate, a candidate desiring that his or her name appear on printed ballots and other official election materials must gather a certain number of valid signatures from registered voters. In jurisdictions whose laws allow for ballot initiative, the gathering of a sufficient number of voter signatures qualilfies a proposed initiative to be placed on the ballot. The 2003 California recall election, which culminated in the recall of Governor Gray Davis and the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger, began when United States House of Representatives Darrell Issa employed paid signature gatherers who obtained millions of signatures at a cost to Issa of millions of dollars. Once the requisite number of signatures was obtained on the recall petition, other petitions were circulated by would-be candidates who wanted to appear on the ballot as possible replacements for Davis. After that step, a vote on the recall was scheduled.

Other types of petitions have included those which sought to free Nelson Mandela during his imprisonment by the former apartheid government of South Africa. The petitions had no legal effect, but the signatures of millions of people on the petitions represented a moral force which may have helped to free Mandela and to end apartheid. Non-governmental organization such as Amnesty International often use petitions in an attempt to exert moral authority in support of various causes.

In February 2007, an online petition against road pricing on the UK Prime Minister's own website attracted over 1.8 million e-signatures, from a population of 60 million people (although it has not been verified that there was only one e-signature per person). The site was official, but experimental at the time. Shocked government ministers were unable to backtrack on the site's existence in the face of national news coverage of the phenomenon. The incident has demonstrated both the potential and pitfalls of online e-government petitions. It remains to be seen if policy will be permanently affected.

A petition can also be the title of a legal pleading that initiates a case to be heard before a court. The initial pleading in a civil lawsuit that seeks only money (damages) might be titled (in most U.S. courts) a complaint; an initial pleading in a lawsuit seeking non-monetary or "equitable" relief such as a request for a writ of mandamus or habeas corpus, or for custody of a child or for probate of a will, would instead be termed a petition.

See also

Internet petition

External links

E-petition website of the Government of the United Kingdom
Image of the biggest surviving Anti Slave Trade Petition 1806

Free Petition website

cs:Peticede:Petition es:Petición fr:Droit de pétitionit:Petizionenl:Petitieru:Петиция fi:Adressi

Bristol Petitioning
Sign this Petition Save the railway path from becoming a bus route Lead Petitioner: steve meek. Status: new > draft > rejected > accepted > collecting signatures > waiting ...

The Scottish Parliament e-Petitions: View/Sign Petition
The impact of 24-hour supermarket developments Raised by: Dr Samer Bagaeen on 08 March 2007 Petition by Samer Bagaeen calling for the Scottish ...

The Scottish Parliament e-Petitions: View/Sign Petition
Information Literacy Raised by: Dr John C Crawford on 26 October 2005 Petition by Dr John Crawford, calling on the Scottish Parliament, to urge the ...

Create a new petition
Petitions to the Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street ... E-Petitions. The e-Petitions service will be closed to new submissions during the Prime Minster's time away from Number 10.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Alan Johnston petition
Journalists across the world took action to demand the release of Alan Johnston, the BBC's Gaza correspondent who has been freed after almost four months.

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Alan Johnston petition
Journalists across the world took action to demand the release of Alan Johnston, the BBC's Gaza correspondent who has been freed after almost four months.

The People's Petition : Supporting Medical Research in the UK
The People's Petition : Supporting Medical Research in the UK ... Thank you for visiting the People's Petition website. The Petition is now closed for new signatures, but please do ...

Asia, World - The Independent
SIGN OUR PETITION We, the undersigned, urge the UK Foreign Office to put all possible pressure on the Afghan government to prevent the execution of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh

Petition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A petition is a request to an authority, most commonly a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a ...

RSPCA Greyhounds Petition
Help all racing greyhounds and sign the petition today! The RSPCA is calling for a better life for all racing greyhounds. Each year at least 10,000 greyhounds are retired from ...