Latin for Lawyers

L ATIN FOR L AWYERS

HABEAS CORPORA JURATORUM [L. habere / to have, hold + corpus / body + iurator / a person under oath, a juror] A writ commanding the sheriff to round up the jurors for a trial panel and to have them available on the day of trial. HABEAS CORPUS Literally, you have the body. The name introducing a number of writs which directed a custodian to bring a party before the court. There are several forms of the writ. The most important is habeus corpus ad subjiciendum , a direction to the custodian of a prisoner to bring him before the court issuing the writ. Others are habeus corpus ad prosequendum; habeus corpus ad responden dum and habeus corpus ad testificandum. (See definitions following.) HABEAS CORPUS AD PROSEQUENDUM A writ requiring the removal of a prisoner to the proper jurisdiction; e.g., the place in which the alleged crime was committed, or to another court which has before it another complaint against him on a separate offense. HABEAS CORPUS AD RESPONDENDUM An order requiring the removal of a prisoner from an inferior court to a higher court which wishes to try a complaint against him. Also, in civil cases, a writ to compel production of a defendant in another jurisdiction to enable him to be sued there. HABEAS CORPUS AD SUBJICIENDUM A cornerstone of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence, this writ initiates a judicial determination of the legality of an individual’s custody or detention; the writ is called the great writ because of its importance in securing a judicial review of the proceedings which led to a prisoner’s detention. In criminal law, it is an order to bring a prisoner before the court to enable the court to review the cir cumstances surrounding his confinement. The writ may be issued by a federal court to review whether the defendant in a state court criminal trial has been

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