Habeas corpus

Habeas corpus (/ˈheɪbiəs ˈkɔːrpəs/ ^ⓘ; from Medieval Latin, lit. 'you should have the body')^[1] is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to bring the prisoner to court, to determine whether their detention is lawful.^[2]

Habeas corpus is generally enforced via writ, and accordingly referred to as a writ of habeas corpus. The writ of habeas corpus is one of what are called the "extraordinary", "common law", or "prerogative writs", which were historically issued by the English courts in the name of the monarch to control inferior courts and public authorities within the kingdom. The writ was a legal mechanism that allowed a court to exercise jurisdiction and guarantee the rights of all the Crown's subjects against arbitrary arrest and detention.^[3] At common law the burden was usually on the official to prove that a detention was authorized.^[4]

Habeas corpus has certain limitations. In some countries, the writ has been temporarily or permanently suspended on the basis of a war or state of emergency, for example with the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1794 in Britain, and the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act (1863) in the United States. Nonetheless, the right to petition for a writ of habeas corpus has long been celebrated as a fundamental safeguard of individual liberty.