A Treatise on the Right of Personal Liberty, and on the Writ of Habeas Corpus, and the Practice Connected with It

1859 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rollin C. Hurd
2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-269
Author(s):  
Michael Lobban

The ‘Great Writ’ of habeas corpus has long had an iconic status as the ‘writ of liberty’ which ensured that no person could be detained in prison without being put to trial by a jury of his peers. According to the traditional version, popularised by Whiggish constitutional writers from the late seventeenth century onwards, the English constitution as embodied in the common law had, since time immemorial, striven to protect the fundamental rights of Englishmen and women, which included the right to personal liberty. The common law had supplied the writ of habeas corpus, which secured the provision of Magna Carta, that no freeman be imprisoned save by the judgment of a jury of his peers. In the course of the seventeenth century, the Whig version ran, kings with an absolutist bent sought to undermine ancient liberties, by claiming prerogative powers to imprison without trial, and by appointing supine judges who would not protect people's liberties. It took the triumph of Parliament to restore and perfect them. For William Blackstone, one of the key statutes which secured ‘the complete restitution of English liberty’ was the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, ‘that second magna carta’. As Blackstone put it: ‘Magna carta only, in general terms, declared, that no man shall be imprisoned contrary to law: the habeas corpus act points him out effectual means, as well to release himself, though committed even by the king in council, as to punish all those who shall thus unconstitutionally misuse him.’


Author(s):  
Amanda L. Tyler

For nearly eight hundred years, the writ of habeas corpus has limited the executive in the Anglo-American legal tradition from imprisoning persons with impunity. Writing in the eighteenth century, William Blackstone declared the writ a “bulwark” of personal liberty. Across the Atlantic, in the lead up to the American Revolution, the Continental Congress declared that the habeas privilege and the right to jury trial were among the most important rights in a free society. This Very Short Introduction chronicles the storied writ of habeas corpus and how it spread from England throughout the British Empire and beyond, witnessing its use today all around the world. Beginning with the English origins of the writ, the book traces its historical development as a part of the common law and as grounded in the English Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, a statute that dramatically limited the executive's power to detain and that Blackstone called no less than a “second Magna Carta.” The book then takes the story forward to explore how the writ has functioned in the centuries since, including its controversial suspension by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. It also explores the role of habeas corpus during World War II and the War on Terror. The story told in these pages reveals the immense challenges that the habeas privilege faces today and suggests that in confronting them, we would do well to remember how the habeas privilege brought even the king of England to his knees before the law.


1989 ◽  
Vol 15 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 227-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Benjamin Linton

In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court held that “[the] right of privacy … founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty … is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” The Court acknowledged that “[t]he Constitution does not explicitly mention any right of privacy.” Nevertheless, the Court held that a “right of personal privacy, or a guarantee of certain areas or zones of privacy, does exist under the Constitution.” However, “only personal rights that can be deemed ‘fundamental’ or ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty,’ … are included in this guarantee of personal privacy.”


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 291-296
Author(s):  
Anil Kumar Mohapatra

Long before India gained independence, M.K. Gandhi remarked that the availability of Sanitation facility is more important than gaining Independence for an Indian. Of late, it is now increasingly felt and realized in India that facilities like toilet, safe drinking water, accompanied by good hygienic conditions are fundamental necessities of a person. These are prerequisites of social and economic justice and genuine development. The Supreme Court of India in one judgement held that Right to life and personal liberty, should include right to privacy and human dignity etc. Despite that it has been an admitted shame that India still has the largest number of people defecating in open in the world. There are reported incidences of rape and murder of women in many places in India as women rely on open field for attending to the call of nature in morning and evening. The attempts like Community toi-let system, pay-and-use toilet system and schemes like ‘Mo Swabhiman -Mo Paikhana’ have been found to be less effective. In this connection the ‘Clean India Mission’ campaign launched by the Government of India in 2014 has been regarded as a right approach in that direction. Government of the day is actively considering the demand to convert the Right to Sanitation from a developmental right to a fundamental right. It would make the state more accountable and responsible. Against this background, the paper argues that spending huge money on that would yield good dividend in future for the country.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-90
Author(s):  
Meghna Borah ◽  
Arup Kumar Hazarika ◽  
Unmilan Kalita

For the survival of all forms of life, procreation is essential. However, natural procreation is not always scientifically possible. As such, the practice of surrogacy and the use of Assisted Reproductive Techniques have become more widely recognised and accepted in societies all over the world. However, various complex and controversial issues are bounded in such practices. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 introduced by Government of India makes an attempt to eradicate some of those issues associated with surrogacy. Nevertheless, the legislation seems to be in derogation to the Constitution of India and universal human rights. This study is designed to substantiate in detail the right to be a surrogate in light of the constitutional mandate along with an evaluation of the eligibility criteria to be a surrogate and its consequences with regard to the existing legal framework. Besides, the economic perspective of exploitation of surrogates via banning of commercial surrogacy has been briefly discussed. The discussion under this study is expected to put forward an essential perspective to the right to be a surrogate in relation to a woman’s right to life and personal liberty. Further, prohibiting commercial surrogacy may push practicing surrogates towards other economically unrewarding, poorly regulated and potentially hazardous forms of employment or even make them subject to human trafficking. Therefore, recognition of the right to be a surrogate vis-à-vis the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019, would help in avoiding blatant miscarriage of universal justice while upholding the supremacy of the Constitution of India.


Author(s):  
Varinder Singh ◽  
Shikha Dhiman

The framers of Indian Constitution were very much cognizant about the significance of human nobility and worthiness and hence they incorporated the “right to life and personal liberty” in the Constitution of India. Right to life is considered as one of the primordial fundamental rights. There is no doubt that Indian Judiciary has lived up to the expectations of the Constitution framers, both in interpreting and implementing Article 21 initially, but there are still a few complications left as to the viability of Article 21 in modern times. Looking at the wider arena of right to life, it can be articulated that broader connotation of “right to life” aims at achieving the norms of “privacy” as well.


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