7/26/2019 Habeas Corpus - History & Definition

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Habeas Corpus: History & Definition

There are two definitions for habeas corpus: one formal and the other substantive.The formal definition may be found in any law dictionary. The courts currently use Black's Law, 5th

Edition. This short essay is about the substantive definition. The substantive definition of habeascorpusis not found in the dictionaries,but rather, in the history books.

In the early days before !a"na #arta$, the kin" had many court systems o%eratin": e.". courts of

#ommon &leas, Eche(uer, )in"'s Bench, #hancery, etc. Each court had its *urisdiction defined.

+f course, as an arm of "overnment, courts are sim%ly another form of bureaucracy with assi"nedfunctions. Like anybureaucracy, they always want to e%and their*urisdictions. If a court

eceeded its *urisdiction, a %erson could "o to the %ro%er court that should have had *urisdiction,

and ask for an order directin" the errant court sto% its %roceedin"s and release *urisdiction to the%ro%er court. The %hrase, habeas corpus, meanin", you have the body was %ut at the end of

%leadin"s to the second court askin" that the first court be re(uired to %roduce the body if it was

bein" held. In its most common form, the full formal %hrase for habeas corpuswas habeas

corpus ad subjiciendum.

+f course, as you mi"ht surmise, that would %it one court bureaucracy a"ainst another. TheHabeas Corpusworked (uite well because, as lon" as the defendant was not a common enemy toboth bureaucracies, one bureaucracy would not miss any o%%ortunity to %ut down a com%etin"

bureaucracy. The %ractical result of all this is that the defendant would often be ordered released,

which was the second court's way of tellin" the first court that it didn't know what it was doin"and had strayed from it's ori"inal *urisdiction i.e. eceeded *urisdiction$. The habeas corpus, as a

by-%roduct ofbureaucraticturf %rotection, tended to serve%ersonal libertywell. +ver the

centuries it became known as the reat/rit of Liberty.It was the only known %rivile"e or ri"htthat became stron"er with the %assa"e of time.

In summary, habeas corpusis the %rocess of one court sittin" in *ud"ment of another court's*urisdiction0*ud"ment. It is 1+T a civil or criminal %roceedin", but rather it is much like a family fi"htbetween courts. That is why, even thou"h you find habeas corpusrules in the civil %rocedure books

23#& and #alif ##&$ the %rocedures stand somewhat alone, inde%endent of the rest of the %rocedures

in those codes.The reason is obvious: /hy would a court burden itself with %rocedural re(uirements4

That stuff is ok for outsiders not %art of the court system i.e.%laintiffs, defendants, and attorneys$

but not ok for*ud"esthemselves.

In merica, everyone can be soverei"n. /hen you move for habeas corpus, you are activatin"

your own court, which is se%arate and distinct from their court. 6ou sit in *ud"ment of the

*urisdiction of their court. /hen you order them to %roduce the in*ured %arty and to demonstratethe in*ury, and when they fail to %roduce, then your court can issue an order to dismiss the case

for lack of *urisdiction. 6our court is a court of record and takes %recedence over the statutory

court.