A Writ of Habeas Corpus is one of the primary ways of obtaining a client's freedom based on his or her actual innocence. Actual innocence Writs of Habeas Corpus can include witness statements, affidavits, and other external evidence that shows how the client has been wrongfully convicted.
Typical examples where a court has granted a habeas corpus petition include claims of new evidence discovered in the case, ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, incompetence to stand trial, and challenging conditions of confinement.
The "Great Writ" of habeas corpus is a fundamental right in the Constitution that protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment. Translated from Latin it means "show me the body." Habeas corpus has historically been an important instrument to safeguard individual freedom against arbitrary executive power.
Commonly referred to as "the Great Writ," habeas corpus is most often associated with an action asserting ineffective assistance of counsel by petitioners challenging the legality of their conviction, but there are several other uses.
A writ of habeas corpus orders the custodian of an individual in custody to produce the individual before the court to make an inquiry concerning his or her detention, to appear for prosecution (ad prosequendum) or to appear to testify (ad testificandum).
Habeas Corpus is a Latin word meaning which literally means 'to have the body of'. It is an order issued by the court to a person who has detained another person, to produce the body of the latter before it.
When you file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, you are asking a judge for a hearing to determine whether your imprisonment is lawful. This hearing is not another trial. Instead of deciding whether you were guilty or not, the judge will evaluate the fairness of the procedure used to convict and sentence you.
—The writ of habeas data is a remedy available to any person whose right to privacy in life, liberty or security is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or information ...
Without the writ of habeas corpus, people would be at risk of being detained indefinitely without good reason or at least the right to have a fair hearing. The writ of habeas corpus assures the accused of asking for a hearing to determine the validity of their detainment.
"The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except in cases of invasion or rebellion when the public safety requires it." The Constitution protects the writ as a critical instrument for ensuring that the state or any other detaining authority respects an individual's fundamental rights.