I would say that the main impact of the Magna Carta on
today's laws is in the idea of individual "due process" rights that is enshrined in that
document. These rights continue to form the basis of the legal systems in countries
whose law is descended from that of England.
For example,
the rights to trial by a jury of one's peers and to be free from punishment except if
one is convicted in a trial are in the Magna Carta. These are really the cornerstones
of our legal system in the US. We form our legal system around the idea that people
cannot be punished without getting their "day in
court."
These rights and others became the basis for the
British legal system and that ended up influencing many other legal systems, including
our own. In that way, the Magna Carta continues to have an impact
today.
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