Habeas corpus (IPA: /hebiskps/) (Latin: You (shall) have the body) is a legal action, or

writ, through which a person can seek relief from the unlawful detention of him or herself, or of
another person. It protects the individual from harming him or herself, or from being harmed by the
judicial system. The writ of habeas corpus has historically been an important instrument for the
safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action.
Also known as "The Great Writ," a writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum is a summons with the
force of a court order addressed to the custodian (such as a prison official) demanding that a prisoner
be brought before the court, together with proof of authority, allowing the court to determine whether
that custodian has lawful authority to hold that person; if not, the person shall be released from
custody. The prisoner, or another person on their behalf (for example, where the prisoner is being held
incommunicado), may petition the court or an individual judge for a writ of habeas corpus.
The right to petition for a writ of habeas corpus has long been celebrated as the most efficient
safeguard of the liberty of the subject. Albert Venn Dicey wrote that the Habeas Corpus Acts "declare
no principle and define no rights, but they are for practical purposes worth a hundred constitutional
articles guaranteeing individual liberty." In most countries, however, the procedure of habeas corpus
can be suspended in time of national emergency. In most civil law jurisdictions, comparable
provisions exist, but they may not be called "habeas corpus." [1] The reach of habeas corpus is currently
being tested in the United States. Oral arguments on a consolidated Guantanamo Bay detention camp
detainee habeas corpus petition, Al Odah v. United States were heard by the Supreme Court of the
United States on December 5, 2007. On June 12, 2008, the Supreme Court ruling in Boumediene v.
Bush recognized habeas corpus rights for the Guantanamo prisoners. On October 7, 2008, the first
Guantanamo prisoners were ordered released by a court considering a habeas corpus petition. [2]
The writ of habeas corpus is one of what are called the "extraordinary," "common law," or
"prerogative writs," which were historically issued by the courts in the name of the monarch to control
inferior courts and public authorities within the kingdom. The most common of the other such
prerogative writs are quo warranto, prohibito, mandamus, procedendo, and certiorari. When the
original 13 American Colonies declared independence and became a constitutional republic in which
the people are the sovereign, any person, in the name of the people, acquired authority to initiate such
writs.
The due process for such petitions is not simply civil or criminal, because they incorporate the
presumption of nonauthority. The official who is the respondent has the burden to prove his authority
to do or not do something. Failing this, the court must decide for the petitioner, who may be any
person, not just an interested party. This differs from a motion in a civil process in which the movant
must have standing, and bears the burden of proof.
Habeas Data
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The literal translation from Latin of Habeas Data is [we command] you have the data. Habeas Data
is a constitutional right granted in several countries in Latin-America. It shows variations from
country to country, but in general, it is designed to protect, by means of an individual complaint

presented to a constitutional court, the image, privacy, honour, information self-determination and
freedom of information of a person.
Habeas Data can be brought up by any citizen against any manual or automated data register to find
out what information is held about his or her person. That person can request the rectification,
actualisation or even the destruction of the personal data held. The legal nature of the individual
complaint of Habeas Data is that of voluntary jurisdiction, this means that the person whose privacy is
being compromised can be the only one to present it. The Courts do not have any power to initiate the
process by themselves.

Contents
[hide]

1 History

2 Implementation

3 References

4 External links

[edit] History
Habeas Data is an individual complaint before a Constitutional Court. The first such complaint is the
Habeas Corpus (which is roughly translated as [we command] you have the body). Other individual
complaints include the writ of mandamus (USA), amparo (Spain, Mexico and Argentina), and
respondeat superior (Taiwan).
The Habeas Data writ itself has a very short history, but its origins can be traced to certain European
legal mechanisms that protected individual privacy. This cannot come as a surprise, as Europe is the
birthplace of the modern Data Protection. In particular, certain German constitutional rights can be
identified as the direct progenitors of the Habeas Data right. In particular, the right to information selfdetermination was created by the German Constitutional Tribunal by interpretation of the existing
rights of human dignity and personality . This is a right to know what type of data are stored on
manual and automatic databases about an individual, and it implies that there must be transparency on
the gathering and processing of such data. The other direct predecessor of the Habeas Data right is the
Council of Europes 108th Convention on Data Protection of 1981. The purpose of the convention is
to secure the privacy of the individual regarding the automated processing of personal data. To
achieve this, several rights are given to the individual, including a right to access their personal data
held in an automated database.[1]
The first country to implement Habeas Data was the Federal Republic of Brazil. In 1988, the Brazilian
legislature voted a new Constitution, which included a novel right never seen before: the Habeas Data
individual complaint. It is expressed as a full constitutional right under article 5, LXXI, Title II, of the
Constitution.
Following the Brazilian example, Colombia incorporated the Habeas Data right to its new
Constitution in 1991. After that, many countries followed suit and adopted the new legal tool in their
respective constitutions: Paraguay in 1992, Peru in 1993, Argentina in 1994, and Ecuador in 1996 [2]

[edit] Implementation

Brazil: The 1988 Brazilian Constitution stipulates that: Habeas Data shall be granted: a) to
ensure the knowledge of information related to the person of the petitioner, contained in
records or databanks of government agencies or of agencies of a public character; b) for the
correction of data, when the petitioner does not prefer to do so through a confidential process,
either judicial or administrative.

Paraguay: The 1992 Paraguay constitution follows the example set by Brazil, but enhances
the protection in several ways. The Article 135 of the Paraguayan constitution states:
Everyone may have access to information and data available on himself or assets in official
or private registries of a public nature. He is also entitled to know how the information is
being used and for what purpose. He may request a competent judge to order the updating,
rectification, or destruction of these entries if they are wrong or if they are illegitimately
affecting his rights.

Argentina: the Argentinian version of Habeas Data is the most complete to date. The article
43 of the Constitution, amended on the 1994 reform, states that: Any person shall file this
action to obtain information on the data about himself and their purpose, registered in public
records or data bases, or in private ones intended to supply information; and in case of false
data or discrimination, this action may be filed to request the suppression, rectification,
confidentiality or updating of said data. The secret nature of the sources of journalistic
information shall not be impaired.[3]

Philippines: On August 25, 2007, Chief Justice Reynato Puno (at the College of Law alumni
of Silliman University in Dumaguete City) announced that the Supreme Court of the
Philippines was drafting the writ of Habeas Data. By invoking the truth, the new remedy will
not only compel military and government agents to release information about the
desaparecidos but require access to military and police files. Reynato Puno announced earlier
on the draft of the writ of amparo -- the Spanish for protection -- which will prevent military
officials in judicial proceedings to simply issue denials on cases of disappearances or
extrajudicial executions. With the writ of habeas corpus, the writ of Habeas Data and the writ
of amparo will further help those looking for missing loved ones. [4]