The legal requirement that government must respect all legal rights owed to a person and follow established legal procedures before depriving someone of life, liberty, or property. It includes both procedural fairness and substantive protections against arbitrary government action.
From Latin 'processus' meaning 'a going forward.' The phrase first appeared in English law in 1354 as 'due process of law,' evolving from the Magna Carta's guarantee of 'law of the land' (1215).
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