Habeas corpus is the great writ of liberty in the Anglo-American legal tradition, and its name is simply the Latin phrase that opened the writ itself: 'habeās corpus' — you may have the body, or more freely, you shall have the body present. In medieval legal practice, writs were invariably named by their opening words, which functioned as a kind of title or identifier for the document. The writ of habeas corpus commanded a jailer, sheriff, or other official holding a person in custody to bring that person — the 'corpus,' the physical body — before the court so that the grounds of detention could be examined and, if found unlawful, the prisoner released.
The Latin verb 'habēre' (to have, to hold, to possess) is the source of 'habeās,' which is the second person singular present subjunctive — a form used in Latin for commands, requirements, and permissions, sometimes translated as 'you shall have' or 'you may have.' The same verb gave English 'exhibit' (from 'exhibēre,' to hold out), 'inhibit' (from 'inhibēre,' to hold back), 'prohibit,' and 'habit' (from 'habitūs,' the way one holds oneself). The Proto-Indo-European root *ghabh- (to give or receive) is also the ancestor, through Germanic, of English 'have' and 'give' — a remarkable pairing that reflects the ancient reciprocal relationship between giving and receiving.
The second word, 'corpus' (body), descends from PIE *krep- and is the root of English 'corpse' (a dead body), 'corporal' (relating to the body), 'corporeal' (bodily, as opposed to spiritual), 'incorporate' (to form into a body), and 'corps' (a body of soldiers). In Latin legal usage 'corpus' referred to the physical person — the actual human being held in custody — as distinct from documents, rights, or abstractions.
The writ of habeas corpus has a long and contested history in English law. There were several variants, the most important being 'habeas corpus ad subjiciendum,' the full name of the writ by which a prisoner could challenge the legality of detention before a court. Versions of the writ appear in English records from the thirteenth century, but its scope and enforceability were disputed for centuries. The landmark Habeas Corpus
The writ became the cornerstone of the principle that no government may imprison a person without justification that a court can examine. It crossed the Atlantic with English colonists and was enshrined in the United States Constitution, which forbids the suspension of habeas corpus except in cases of rebellion or invasion. The phrase 'great writ of liberty' — first used by Lord Coke in the seventeenth century — stuck.
In the twenty-first century, debates over the scope of habeas corpus have returned to prominence, particularly in the context of detention without trial at Guantanamo Bay and other facilities. The US Supreme Court in 'Boumediene v. Bush' (2008) held that foreign nationals held at Guantanamo Bay had constitutional habeas corpus rights. The ancient Latin phrase continues to be a live legal battleground, its two words still carrying the weight of individual liberty against executive power.