Habeas corpus : A writ having for its object to bring a party before a court or judge; especially, one to inquire into the cause of a person's imprisonment or detention by another, with the view to protect the right to personal liberty; also, one to bring a prisoner into court to testify in a pending trial.

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Taxonomy
habeas corpus, writ, court, writ of habeas corpus, detention, appeal, United States, law, petition, detained, judge, the prisoner, authority, jurisdiction, body, Constitution, writ of certiorari, habeas.

Defination from the web:
habeas corpus has historically been an important instrument for the safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action. ... British jurist Albert Venn Dicey wrote that the Habeas Corpus Acts "declare no principle and define no rights, but ...