A legal principle requiring that a person under arrest be brought before a judge or court to determine if their detention is lawful. It protects against arbitrary imprisonment by forcing authorities to justify holding someone in custody.
Latin for 'you shall have the body.' The phrase comes from the opening words of medieval English writs demanding that prisoners be brought before court. It was formalized in England's Habeas Corpus Act of 1679.
Habeas corpus has been called 'the great writ of liberty' because it's often the last protection against tyranny when all else fails! Even during the darkest periods—like Lincoln suspending it during the Civil War or its limitation after 9/11—debates over habeas corpus reveal the eternal tension between security and freedom in democratic societies.
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