What does habeas corpus mean?

Definitions for habeas corpus
ˈheɪ bi əs ˈkɔr pəshabeas cor·pus

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word habeas corpus.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. habeas corpus, writ of habeas corpusnoun

    a writ ordering a prisoner to be brought before a judge

  2. habeas corpusnoun

    the civil right to obtain a writ of habeas corpus as protection against illegal imprisonment

Wiktionary

  1. habeas corpusnoun

    A writ to bring a person before a court or a judge, most frequently used to ensure that a person's imprisonment, detention, or commitment is legal.

  2. Etymology: referring to the body of the person being detained (not the body of a victim, as in corpus delicti).

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. HABEAS CORPUS

    A writ, the which, a man indicted of some trespass, being laid in prison for the same, may have out of the King’s Bench, thereby to remove himself thither at his own costs, and to answer the cause there. John Cowell

    Etymology: Latin.

Wikipedia

  1. Habeas corpus

    Habeas corpus ( (listen); from Medieval Latin, lit. 'that you have the body') is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, to bring the prisoner to court, to determine whether the detention is lawful.The writ of habeas corpus was described in the eighteenth century by William Blackstone as a "great and efficacious writ in all manner of illegal confinement". It is a summons with the force of a court order; it is addressed to the custodian (a prison official, for example) and demands that a prisoner be brought before the court, and that the custodian present proof of authority, allowing the court to determine whether the custodian has lawful authority to detain the prisoner. If the custodian is acting beyond their authority, then the prisoner must be released. Any prisoner, or another person acting on their behalf, may petition the court, or a judge, for a writ of habeas corpus. One reason for the writ to be sought by a person other than the prisoner is that the detainee might be held incommunicado. Most civil law jurisdictions provide a similar remedy for those unlawfully detained, but this is not always called habeas corpus. For example, in some Spanish-speaking nations, the equivalent remedy for unlawful imprisonment is the amparo de libertad ("protection of freedom"). Habeas corpus has certain limitations. Though a writ of right, it is not a writ of course. It is technically only a procedural remedy; it is a guarantee against any detention that is forbidden by law, but it does not necessarily protect other rights, such as the entitlement to a fair trial. So if an imposition such as internment without trial is permitted by the law, then habeas corpus may not be a useful remedy. In some countries, the writ has been temporarily or permanently suspended under the pretext of a war or state of emergency, for example by Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War (see Habeas Corpus Suspension Act (1863)).The right to petition for a writ of habeas corpus has nonetheless long been celebrated as the most efficient safeguard of the liberty of the subject. The jurist Albert Venn Dicey wrote that the British Habeas Corpus Acts "declare no principle and define no rights, but they are for practical purposes worth a hundred constitutional articles guaranteeing individual liberty".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 most common of the other such prerogative writs are quo warranto, prohibito, mandamus, procedendo, and certiorari. The due process for such petitions is not simply civil or criminal, because they incorporate the presumption of non-authority. The official who is the respondent must prove their authority to do or not do something. Failing this, the court must decide for the petitioner, who may be any person, not just an interested party. This differs from a motion in a civil process in which the movant must have standing, and bears the burden of proof.

ChatGPT

  1. habeas corpus

    Habeas corpus is a legal principle that safeguards individual freedom against arbitrary and indefinite imprisonment. It is a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention. The principle of habeas corpus ensures that a detainee can challenge the legality of their detention in court.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Habeas corpus

    a writ having for its object to bring a party before a court or judge; especially, one to inquire into the cause of a person's imprisonment or detention by another, with the view to protect the right to personal liberty; also, one to bring a prisoner into court to testify in a pending trial

  2. Etymology: [L. you may have the body.]

Wikidata

  1. Habeas corpus

    A writ of habeas corpus is a writ that requires a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court. The principle of habeas corpus ensures that a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention—that is, detention lacking sufficient cause or evidence. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to the prisoner's aid. This right originated in the English legal system, and is now available in many nations. It has historically been an important legal instrument safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary state action. A writ of habeas corpus, also known as the "great writ", is a summons with the force of a court order; it is addressed to the custodian and demands that a prisoner be taken before the court, and that the custodian present proof of authority, allowing the court to determine whether the custodian has lawful authority to detain the prisoner. If the custodian is acting beyond his authority, then the prisoner must be released. Any prisoner, or another person acting on his or her behalf, may petition the court, or a judge, for a writ of habeas corpus. One reason for the writ to be sought by a person other than the prisoner is that the detainee might be held incommunicado. Most civil law jurisdictions provide a similar remedy for those unlawfully detained, but this is not always called "habeas corpus". For example, in some Spanish-speaking nations, the equivalent remedy for unlawful imprisonment is the amparo de libertad.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

  1. Habeas Corpus

    an Act of Parliament passed in the reign of Charles II. to ensure the protection of one accused of a crime prior to conviction in an open court of justice.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer

  1. habeas corpus

    A writ of habeas corpus is an order in writing, signed by the judge who grants the same, sealed with the seal of the court of which he is a judge, and issued in the name of a sovereign power where it is granted, by such a court or a judge thereof having lawful authority to issue the same, directed to any one having a person in his custody or under his restraint, commanding him to produce such person at a certain time and place, and to state the reason why he is held in custody or under restraint.

Suggested Resources

  1. habeas corpus

    Song lyrics by habeas corpus -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by habeas corpus on the Lyrics.com website.

  2. habeas corpus

    Read the full text of the Habeas Corpus poem by Helen Hunt Jackson on the Poetry.com website.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of habeas corpus in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of habeas corpus in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of habeas corpus in a Sentence

  1. Leo Terrell:

    She has damaged her chances for future custodial rights, she disobeyed a court order to return the children. A writ of habeas corpus was filed by the ex-husband and granted by a New York Court ordering her to turn over the children to the paternal grandmother. Kelly received bad legal advice to defy the court order.

  2. Nonhuman Rights Project:

    For 200 years, New York courts have used (habeas corpus) to move an individual from a place of less freedom to more freedom.

  3. Thomas Jefferson:

    By a declaration of rights, I mean one which shall stipulate freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of commerce against monopolies, trial by juries in all cases, no suspensions of the habeas corpus, no standing armies. These are fetters against doing evil which no honest government should decline.


Translations for habeas corpus

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"habeas corpus." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/habeas+corpus>.

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