habeas corpusArticle Free Pass habeas corpus, an ancient common-
law writ, issued by a court or judge directing one who holds
another in custody to produce the body of the person before the
court for some specified purpose. Although there have been and
are many varieties of the writ, the most important is that used
to correct violations of personal liberty by directing judicial
inquiry into the legality of a detention. The habeas corpus
remedy is recognized in the countries of the Anglo-American
legal system but is generally not found in civil-law countries,
although some of the latter have adopted comparable procedures.
The origins of the writ cannot be stated with certainty. Before
the Magna Carta (1215) a variety of writs performed some of the
functions of habeas corpus. During the Middle Ages habeas corpus
was employed to bring cases from inferior tribunals into the
king’s courts. The modern history of the writ as a device for
the protection of personal liberty against official authority
may be said to dat