let me go (to hold the body)

What is the Habeas Corpus Act? Jessica Ellis Jessica Ellis Last Modified Date: September 25, 2022 Article 1 of the Constitution mentions a writ of habeas corpus. Article 1 of the Constitution mentions a writ of habeas corpus. The Habeas Corpus Act is a British Act of Parliament passed in 1679. This Act formalized the recognition of the right of an individual to challenge imprisonment as unlawful. The creation of the Habeas Corpus Act is considered a vitally important moment in legal history, as the Act paved the way for individual rights. Habeas corpus is a Latin term that means “to hold the body,” though the term is typically used as a synonym for the concept of personal liberty. Though the idea of habeas corpus has existed in British law for centuries, it was not a legally accepted right until the passing of the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679. By passing the Act, Parliament was essentially ending the right of the monarchy to imprison a person without charges. This created a fundamental challenge to the eons-old belief that monarchs acted above the law by endowing the individual citizen with unimpeachable rights.