HABEAS CORPUS

ATTY. JUVI H. GAYATAO

 DEFINITION

 Writ of Habeas Corpus- an order issued by a competent

court, directed to a person detaining another, commanding
him to produce the body of the prisoner at a designated
time and place, to explain the time and cause of the caption
and detention, and to follow what the court or judge
awarding the writ shall consider in behalf of the prisoner.
 The purpose of the issuance of the writ is to inquire on the
legality of the restraint or detention without necessarily
ordering the release of the prisoner.
 Definition

 The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus,

on the other hand, is an order coming from
the court to (immediately) release the
prisoner if the court finds that the detention is
without legal cause or authority.
 A return is a written explanation of the cause
of the caption and detention of the prisoner.
 RULE 102
 HABEAS CORPUS
 Sec. 1. To what habeas corpus extends. - Except as
otherwise expressly provided by law, the writ of
habeas corpus shall extend to all cases of illegal
confinement or detention by which any person is
deprived of his liberty, or by which the rightful
custody of any person is withheld from the
person entitled thereto.
 VALID DETENTION

1. COMMISSION OF A CRIME
2. VIOLENT INSANITY
3. CONTAGIOUS DISEASES
 Suspension of the WRIT

 Section 15, Article III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution

states that

“the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus

shall not be suspended except in cases of
rebellion when the public safety requires
it”.
 Suspension of the WRIT
 When the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is suspended, the courts
are momentarily prevented from determining the legality of a detention.
 People who have committed the crime of rebellion (or even suspected
ones) may be arrested without warrant of arrest and objects that were
used in the commission of the crime of rebellion may be seized without
search warrant.
 The purpose of the law, therefore, in suspending the privilege of the writ
is to “hold in preventive imprisonment persons who plotted or
committed acts that endanger the existence of the State pending their
investigation and trial” (Padilla vs. Ponce Enrile, L-61388, April 20,
1983).
 Grounds for the suspension
of the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus

 Section 15, Article III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution states that “the privilege of the writ of
habeas corpus shall not be suspended except in cases of rebellion when the public safety requires
it”.
 Section 18, Article VII of the same Constitution provides that the suspension of the privilege of the
writ is one of the military powers of the President, meaning that just like martial law, it is only the
President of the Philippines who could suspend the privilege of the writ and it must be based on the
following conditions:
 1)     There must be invasion or rebellion; AND
 2)     The public safety requires it
 However, it shall only apply to persons judicially charged for rebellion or inherent in or directly
connected with invasion and NOT TO THOSE WHO ARE ONLY SUSPECTED of committing
rebellion or invasion.
 A person arrested or detained must be released if not judicially charged within three (3) days (1987
Philippine Constitution, Section 18, Article VII, last par)
 The proclamation of martial law does not automatically suspend the privilege of the writ.