Stannary law

They had the rights of "bounding" (prospecting for and working tin ore deposits), of trial before their own stannary court, and of exemption from ordinary taxation.

This confirmed that the tin miners were exempt from all civil jurisdiction other than that of the Stannary Courts, except in cases affecting land, life or limb.

[7] Henry VII restored them in return for a payment from the tin miners of the sum, enormous at the time, of £1,000, to support his war on Scotland.

The parliaments were convened occasionally by the Lord Warden of the Stannaries when it was felt that laws concerning the miner's rights needed to be made or revised.

[9] In 1977, responding by letter to a written question in the House of Commons from Plaid Cymru MP Dafydd Wigley to the Attorney-General for England and Wales, Lord Chancellor Lord Elwyn-Jones said he could find no record of the charter having been formally amended or withdrawn but also noted academic opinion that "no doubt has ever been expressed about Parliament's power to enact legislation for the stannaries without the need to obtain the consent of Convocation".

While the stannaries of Cornwall and Devon had the most developed legal systems, a number of other mining communities had similar privileges.

Examples included: Some Cornish political activists claim to have revived the Stannary Parliament since 1974, along with the right to veto British legislation.