The Habeas Corpus Act 1679 is an English law that strengthened the ancient writ of habeas corpus, requiring that a detained person be brought before a court so a judge can rule on whether the detention is lawful. It remains a foundational protection against arbitrary imprisonment in common law systems.
Facts
Key ProvisionEnacted by the English Parliament in 1679, it strengthened the ancient common-law writ of habeas corpus by closing procedural loopholes the crown and its officers had used to hold prisoners without trial: it required a jailer, on receipt of the writ, to produce the prisoner before a court within a set number of days and state the cause of detention, imposed escalating fines on officials who delayed or refused, and barred the practice of transporting a prisoner overseas specifically to place them beyond the writ's reach. It remains, in amended form, part of English law and a foundational guarantee against arbitrary detention in the wider Anglo-American legal tradition. 1 Classification
Document TypeLegislative Act or Statute 1 Original Language Connections
Associated With
Both are part of the same seventeenth-century sequence of English statutes constraining arbitrary crown power that later shaped Anglo-American constitutionalism.
Source Habeas Corpus Act, England 1679 (Britannica)
Influenced
Source Habeas Corpus Act, England 1679 (Britannica)
Influenced By
Magna Carta, Documents Clause 39's promise against arbitrary imprisonment is the medieval root historians trace forward to the 1679 Act's formal writ of habeas corpus.
Source Magna Carta (Britannica)
Sources
1. Habeas Corpus Act, England 1679 (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaDocument type, description
The Habeas Corpus Act 1679 is an English law that strengthened the ancient writ of habeas corpus, requiring that a detained person be brought before a court so a judge can rule on whether the detention is lawful.
- Influenced: Rule of Law
- Associated With: English Bill of Rights 1689
View the Source 2. legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Habeas Corpus Act 1679
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)Title of the ActQuote, Title of the Act
An Act for the better secureing the Liberty of the Subject and for Prevention of Imprisonments beyond the Seas
Wikidata: Habeas Corpus Act 1679
Wikidata Q492004, class allow-list match, case-insensitive label variant (w-bbfill-smallsix2-0926/resolve_ci.ps1)View the Source Habeas Corpus Act 1679 (Wikipedia)
In Group: Medieval and Early Modern Charters and Constitutional Statutes, Lead paragraphQuote, In Group: Medieval and Early Modern Charters and Constitutional Statutes, Lead paragraph
The Habeas Corpus Act 1679 (31 Cha. 2. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England passed during the reign of Charles II. It was passed by what became known as the Habeas Corpus Parliament to define and strengthen the ancient prerogative writ of habeas corpus, which required a court to examine the lawfulness of a prisoner's detention and thus prevent unlawful or arbitrary imprisonment.
Magna Carta (Britannica)
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