habeas corpus: [15] Habeas corpus means literally ‘you should have the body’. They are the first words of a Latin writ, apparently in use in England since the 13th century, requiring a person to be brought before a court of law. It begins Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum ‘You should have the body to undergo’, that is, ‘You must produce the person in court so that he or she may undergo what the court decides’. It applies in particular to the bringing of a detained person before a court so that a judge may decide whether he or she is being legally held – a safeguard against unlawful detention enshrined in England in the Habeas Corpus Act 1679.
