Habeas Corpus Act 1640
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1640 c. 10 |
| Year | 1640 |
(16 Cha. 1) C A P. X.
'WHEREAS by the Great Charter many Times confirmed in Parliament, it is enacted, That no Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseised of his Freehold or Liberties, or Free Customs, or be outlawed or exiled or otherwise destroyed, and that the King will not pass upon him, or condemn him; but by lawful Judgmentof his Peers, or by the Law of the Land: (2) And by anther Statute made in the fifth Yearof the Reign of KingEdward the Third, it is enacted, That no Man shall be attached by any Accusation, nor forejudged of Life or Limb, nor his Lands, Tenements, Goods nor Chattels seized into the King's Hands, against the Form of the Great Charter, and the Law of the Land: (3) And by another Statute made in the five and twentieth Year of the Reign of the same KingEdward the Third, It is accorded, assented and established, That non shall be taken by Petition or Suggestion made to the King, or to his Council, unless it be by Indictment or Presentment of good and lawful People of the same Neighbourhood where such Deeds be done, in due Manner, or by Process made by Writ Original at the Common Law, and that none be put out of his Franchise or Freehold, unless he be duly brought in to answer, and forejudged of the same by the Course of the Law, and if any Thingbe done against the same, it shall be redressed and holden for none: (4) And by another Statute made in the eight and twentieth Year of the Reign of the same KingEdward the Third, it is amongst other Things enacted, That no Man of what Estate or Condition soever he be, shall be put out of his Lands or Tenements, nor taken, nor imprisoned, nor disinherited, without being brought in to answer by due Processof Law: (5) And by another Statute made in the two and fortieth Year of the Reign of the said KingEdward the Third, It is enacted, That no Man be put to answer, without Presentment before Justices, or Matter of Record, or by due Process and Writ Original, according to the old Law of the Land, and if any Thing be done to the contrary, it shall be void in Law, and holden for Error: (6) And by another Statute made in the six and thirtieth Year of the same KingEdward the Third, It is amongst other Things enacted, That all Pleas which shall be pleaded in any Courts before any the King's Justices, or in his other Places, or before any of his other Ministers, or in the Courtsand Places of any other Lords within the Realm, shall be entered and enrolled inLatin . (7) And whereas by the Statute made in the third Year of King Henry the Seventh Power is given to the Chancellor, the Lord Treasurer of England for the Time being, and the Keeper of the King's Privy Seal, or two of them, calling unto them a Bishop and a Temporal Lord of the King's most Honourable Council, and the two Chief Justices of the King's Bench and Common Pleas for the Time being, or other two Justices in their Absence, to proceed as in that Act is expressed, for the Punishment of some particular Offencestherein mentioned: (8) And by the Statute made in the one and twentieth Year of KingHenry the Eighth, the President of the Council is associated to join with the Lord Chancellor and other Judges in the said Statute of the Third of Henry the Seventh mentioned; (9) but the said Judges have not kept themselves to the Points limited by the said Statute, but have undertaken to punish where no Law doth warrant, and to make Decrees for Things having no such Authority, and to inflict heavier Punishments than by any Law is warranted.
II All Matters examinable in the Star-Chamber, may be examinable and redressed by the Common Law.
'II. And forasmuch as all Matters examinable or determinable before the said Judges, or in the Court commonly called the Star-Chamber, may have their proper Remedy and Redress, and their due Punishment and Correction, by the Common Law of the Land, and in the ordinary Course of Justice elsewhere; (2) and forasmuch as the Reasons and Motives inducing the Erection and Continuance of that Court do now cease: (3) and the Proceedings, Censures and Decrees of that Court, have by Experience been found to be an intolerable Burthen to the Subjects, and the Means to introduce an arbitrary Power and Government...
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