Statute of Northampton

The Statute of Northampton (2 Edw. 3) is legislation passed by the Parliament of England which met in Northampton in 1328. The parliament also ratified the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton which ended the First War of Scottish Independence.

List of chapters

 * (Confirmation of charters) c. 1
 * (Pardons for felony, justices of assize, etc.) c. 2
 * (Riding or going armed) c. 3
 * (Sheriff) c. 4
 * (Sheriff) c. 5
 * (Confirmation of statutes, etc.) c. 6
 * (Inquiry of past felons, etc.) c. 7
 * (Commands in delay of justice) c. 8 &mdash; repealed by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969, section 1 and Schedule, Part I
 * (The staples) c. 9
 * (Pardon of fines) c. 10
 * (Common Bench) c. 11
 * (Annexing hundreds to counties) c. 12
 * (Process for past trespasses) c. 13
 * (Measure, etc. of cloths imported) c. 14
 * (Keeping of fairs) c. 15
 * (Inquests) c. 16
 * (Writs of deceit) c. 17

Riding armed
Chapter 3 would later be argued in legal disputes in the United States of America about Second Amendment rights. It said

The modern relevance of the legislation has been disputed: firearms did not exist at the time, and it is not immediately clear whether "nor to go nor to ride armed" (originally ne de chivaucher ne de daler arme in Anglo-Norman French) referred to carrying weapons or to wearing armour; it is also not clear whether it should be read primarily as permitting riding armed in the context of an official militia or posse, or as a prohibition in other situations.

Qui tam
Chapter 15 regulated fairs and in particular required a lord to follow a royal charter or established usage to keep a  fair  open  "for  the Time  that they ought  to hold  it, and no longer," with pre-publication of the closing time, subject to a fine for the lord and grievous punishment for the merchants if the fair stayed open longer.

Enforcement against sales after the closing time of the fair was strengthened three years later with qui tam provisions in the  (5 Edw. 3. c. 5), allowing private citizens to prosecute cases and receive a quarter of the fines based on double the value of improperly sold goods. This provision was not repealed until the Common Informers Act 1951.