Habeas corpus: the writ that forces the state to justify a detention

A writ of habeas corpus is a court order requiring that a detained person be brought before a judge so the lawfulness of their imprisonment can be examined. The Latin phrase means roughly “you shall have the body,” and the writ is long celebrated as the “Great Writ of Liberty.”

Its modern force in English law came with the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, which let judges issue the writ even when courts were closed and imposed penalties on officials who delayed or refused to comply. Parliament passed it to curb imprisonment without trial.

The principle crossed the Atlantic into American law. The U.S. Constitution protects it in Article I, Section 9, the Suspension Clause, which states that “the Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”