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Encyclopedia entry: habeas corpus
- Article from:
- The Oxford Companion to British History
- Author:
Copyright© The Oxford Companion to British History 2002, originally published by Oxford University Press 2002. (Hide copyright information)
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habeas corpus.
Before Magna Carta, the writ of habeas corpus constituted a command in the king's name to have a defendant brought physically before the court. It had then no libertarian function. In the 15th and 16th cents. it was used to remove a case from an inferior court to the central courts. By the mid-15th cent. it tested the legality of detention and the common law courts used it to release litigants who had been imprisoned by the Court of Chancery. In the 17th cent. it was employed to challenge arbitrary arrests by the royal government and, as such, played a crucial role in the constitutional disputes. In Darnel's case in 1627, which arose out of a forced loan, the judges refused ...