Habeas corpus, the right to challenge unlawful detention, comes from which legal tradition?
- English common law
- Roman law
- The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- The civil code of France
Answer: English common law
Habeas corpus, the right to challenge unlawful detention by the state, comes from English common law. English common law is one source of Canadian law, along with the civil code of France and laws passed by Parliament and the provincial legislatures.
Learn more: Where rights and laws come from
- Rights and responsibilities come from Canada’s history, are secured by Canadian law and reflect shared traditions, identity and values.
- Sources of Canadian law: laws passed by Parliament and the provincial legislatures, English common law, the civil code of France, and the unwritten constitution inherited from Great Britain.
- Magna Carta was signed in England in 1215. It is also called the Great Charter of Freedoms.
- Canada’s tradition of ordered liberty is about 800 years old and dates back to Magna Carta.
- Habeas corpus, the right to challenge unlawful detention by the state, comes from English common law.