Habeas-corpus meaning

hā'bē-əs
(law) 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.
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The definition of habeas corpus is a legal document that requires someone to be brought before a judge to determine if the person should be held in custody or released.

An example of habeas corpus is if you file a petition with the court because you want to be brought before a judge where reasons for your arrest and detention must be shown.

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In criminal procedure, a process to challenge the detention of a prisoner; frequently used as a way to attack a conviction in federal court when state appeals have been exhausted.
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A writ that a person may seek from a court to obtain immediate release from an unlawful confinement, as when the confinement has occurred through a means that violated the person's constitutional rights.
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The right of a person to obtain such a writ.
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Any of various writs ordering a person to be brought before a court; specif., a writ requiring that a detained person be brought before a court to decide the legality of the detention or imprisonment.
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Origin of habeas-corpus

Middle English from Medieval Latin habeās corpus produce the body (from the opening words of the writ) Latin habeās second person sing. present subjunctive of habēre to have Latin corpus body

Sentence Examples

  • Being brought before the bar of the House of Lords he made submission as to his conduct in declaring parliament dissolved by the prorogation, and in violating the Lords' privileges by bringing a habeas corpus in the King's Bench.

  • The proposed rising was a dismal failure, but the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended and Thistlewood and Watson were seized, although upon being tried they were acquitted.

  • These Personal Liberty Laws forbade justices and judges to take cognizance of claims, extended the habeas corpus act and the privilege of jury trial to fugitives, and punished false testimony severely.

  • During the war that followed the west section was generally loyal to the north while the south section favoured the Confederacy and furnished many soldiers for its army; but most of the state was kept under Federal control, the writ of habeas corpus being suspended.

  • The court has original jurisdiction in quo warranto and mandamus proceedings against state officers and in habeas corpus cases, general appellate jurisdiction, and a superintending control over the inferior courts.

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Words near habeas-corpus in the Dictionary