Habeas corpus

Habeas corpus is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a <a href="/facts/Court/QuVoTFmh">court</a> to review the <a href="/facts/Arbitrary_arrest_and_detention/MA31VM9a">unlawful detention or imprisonment</a> 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.
Habeas corpus is generally enforced via <a href="/facts/Writ/w3757hnR">writ</a>, and accordingly referred to as a writ of habeas corpus. The writ of habeas corpus is one of what are called the "extraordinary", "<a href="/facts/Common_law/vGVcW4Kf">common law</a>", or "<a href="/facts/Prerogative_writ/w30tV4NP">prerogative writs</a>", which were historically issued by the <a href="/facts/English_courts/5LB8uW8q">English courts</a> 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.
At common law the <a href="/facts/Burden_of_proof_(law)/0vyE7MjA">burden</a> was usually on the official to prove that a detention was authorized. 
Habeas corpus has certain limitations. In some countries, the writ has been temporarily or permanently suspended on the basis of a war or <a href="/facts/State_of_emergency/YYWgKFPq">state of emergency</a>, for example with the <a href="/facts/Habeas_Corpus_Suspension_Act_1794/b5CRsslE">Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1794</a> in Britain, and the <a href="/facts/Habeas_Corpus_Suspension_Act_(1863)/cG0YPMpL">Habeas Corpus Suspension Act (1863)</a> in the United States. Nonetheless, the right to petition for a writ of habeas corpus has long been celebrated as a fundamental safeguard of <a href="/facts/Individual_liberty/xyu96brC">individual liberty</a>.

Habeas corpus open-in-new

Habeas corpus