Habeas Corpus Act 1816
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1816 c. 100 |
| Year | 1816 |
(56 Geo. 3) C A P. C.
[1st July 1816]
'WHEREAS the Writ ofHabeas Corpus hath been found by Experience to be an expeditious and effectual Method of restoring any Person to his Liberty, who bath been unjustly deprived thereof: And Whereas extending the Remedy of such Writ, and enforcing Obedience thereunto, and preventing Delays in the Execution thereof, will be advantageous to the Public: And Whereas the Provisions made by an Act passed in England in the Thirty first Year of King Charles the Second, intituled , and also by an Act passed inIreland in the Twenty first and Twenty second Years of His present Majesty, intituled , only extend to cases of Commitment or Detainer for criminal or supposed criminal matter;' Be it therefore enacted by The King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That where any Person shall be confined or restrained of his or her Liberty(otherwise than for some criminal or supposed criminal matter, and except Persons imprisoned for Debt or by Process in any civil Suit) within that Part ofGreat Britain called England , Dominion of Wales , or Town of Berwick upon Tweed , or the Isles of Jersey, Guernsey or Man , it shall and may be lawful for any One of the Barons of the Exchequer, of the Degree of the Coif, as well as for any One of the Justices of One Bench or the other; and where any Person shall be so confined in Ireland , it shall and may be lawful for any One of the Barons of the Exchequer, or of the Justices of One Bench or the other in Ireland ; and they are hereby required, upon Complaint made to them by or on the behalf of the Person so confined or restrained, if it shall appear by Affidavit or Affirmation (in cases where by Law an Affirmation is allowed) that there is a probable and reasonable Ground for such Complaint, to award in Vacation time, a Writ of Habeas Corpus ad subjiciendum , under the Seal of such Court, whereof he or they shall then be Judges or One of the Judges, to be directed to the Person or Persons in whose Custody or Power the Party so confined or restrained shall be, returnable immediately before the Person so awarding the same, or before any other Judge of the Court under the Seal of which the said Writ issued.
II Non Obedience to such Writ, to be a Contempt of Court.
II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if the Person or Persons to whom any Writ ofHabeas Corpus shall be directed according to the Provision of this Act, upon Service of such Writ, either by the actual Delivery thereof to him, her or them, or by leaving the same at the Place where the Party shall be confined or restrained, with any Servant or Agent of the Person or Persons so confining or restraining, shall wilfully...
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