The Habeas Corpus Act of 1679

The Habeas Corpus Act 1679 was an Act of Parliament passed during the reign of King Charles II that helped establish the name of that session as the Habeas Corpus Parliament. It was passed in order to fully define and strengthen the ancient writ of habeas corpus, so that persons unlawfully detained cannot be ordered to be prosecuted before a court of law.

The Act is often wrongly described as the origin of the writ of habeas corpus, which had existed in England for over 300 years. The Act fo...