HABEAS CORPUS ACT
The Habeas Corpus Act was an English statute
enacted in 1679 during the reign of King Charles
II. It was subsequently amended and supple-
mented by enactments of Parliament that per-
mitted, in certain cases, a person to challenge the
legality of his or her imprisonment before a
court that ordered the person to appear before it
at a designated time so that it could render its
decision. The Habeas Corpus Act served as the
precursor of HABEAS CORPUS provisions found
in U.S. federal and state constitutions and
statutes that safeguard the guarantee of personal
