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).
Due process transformed from a medieval protection against royal tyranny into the foundation of modern criminal justice! The concept has expanded far beyond its origins—today it protects everything from student disciplinary hearings to deportation proceedings, showing how a 700-year-old legal principle adapts to new challenges.
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