Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

habeas corpus

American  
[hey-bee-uhs kawr-puhs] / ˈheɪ bi əs ˈkɔr pəs /

noun

Law.

  1. a writ requiring a person to be brought before a judge or court, especially for investigation of a restraint of the person's liberty, used as a protection against illegal imprisonment.

habeas corpus British  
/ ˈheɪbɪəs ˈkɔːpəs /

noun

  1. law a writ ordering a person to be brought before a court or judge, esp so that the court may ascertain whether his detention is lawful

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
habeas corpus Cultural  

  1. A legal term meaning that an accused person must be presented physically before the court with a statement demonstrating sufficient cause for arrest. Thus, no accuser may imprison someone indefinitely without bringing that person and the charges against him or her into a courtroom. In Latin, habeas corpus literally means “you shall have the body.”

Usage

What is habeas corpus? The writ of habeas corpus, often shortened to habeas corpus, is the requirement that an arrested person be brought before a judge or court before being detained or imprisoned.

Etymology

Origin of habeas corpus

< Latin: literally, have the body (first words of writ), equivalent to habeās 2nd-person singular present subjunctive (with imperative force) of habēre to have + corpus body

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The habeas corpus complaint repeatedly characterized a teenage Fiorella as a shy, quiet child who was teased by peers for being “slow.”

From Los Angeles Times

All those motherf***ers who are out there arresting U.S. citizens, violating habeas corpus and bending rules to enforce a police state deserve a lot more than a sandwich dumped on them.

From Salon

Even worse, on June 16 Paxton asked a trial judge to set a new execution date for Roberson — without waiting for the Court of Criminal Appeals to decide on his habeas corpus petition.

From Salon

The Honduran woman, not named in court documents, filed a petition for writs of habeas corpus, challenging the legality of her and her family’s detention at a Texas facility.

From Los Angeles Times

The Trump administration is also signaling that it will suspend the constitutional right of habeas corpus.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.