Habeas Corpus Act

Habeas Corpus Act is an Act of the Parliament of Palmshire, passed during reign of King Legion I, that defined the writ of habeas corpus, a procedural device to force the courts to examine the lawfulness of a prisoner's detention in order to safeguard individual liberty and thus to prevent unlawful or arbitrary imprisonment.

Legislative History

The bill that became Habeas Corpus Act was originally drafted by the Duke of Rockford on 25 August 2016, with revisions being finalized two days later. It was introduced during the Parliament sitting on 27 August with a little or no debate. It was voted upon by the Parliament, passing it with five for and three against. It was subsequently granted a Royal Assent by the King and became the law.

Text of the Act

Preamble - An Act to Regulate The Use and Suspension of Habeas Corpus.

Section 1 - Appeals / Habeas Corpus

(1) Habeas corpus - Any persons imprisoned may apply, through himself/herself or his/her counsel, to the court for a writ of habeas corpus.

(a) This writ of habeas corpus shall direct the peace officer responsible for the imprisonment to appear before the court to explain the circumstances and reasons for the imprisonment.

(b) The court is authorized to order a temporary revocation of imprisonment to permit the prisoner to testify in this procedural hearing if he/she choose to not utilize a counsel to represent him/her in the hearing.

(c) The court shall then determine if it is lawful imprisonment.

(d) If the imprisonment is held to be unlawful, the officer responsible for imprisonment then shall be directed to release the said person from imprisonment.

(2) Foreign citizens - The right to apply for writ of habeas corpus shall not be denied to any prisoners on basis of holding foreign citizenship, unless the habeas corpus is suspended by an Act of Parliament as described below.

Section 2 - Criminal Penalties

(1) Penalty for failure to obey the writ - Upon any failure to heed a writ of habeas corpus or an order to release a person from imprisonment, the court shall be authorized to issue a Contempt of Court against the peace officer who failed in their duties to obey a court order.

(a) The authorized penalties for the Contempt of Court at the court’s discretion may include, but not limited to, any of the following:

(i) A fine not exceeding an amount of over one thousand Palmshire Dollars when and if a virtual economy is established.

(1) This fine may be imposed one-time or daily.

(ii) An imprisonment of the offending officer not to exceed a period of over 30 days.

(2) Parliament - All provisions under Section 2.1 shall also apply to cases before the Parliament except that the contempt shall be styled “Contempt of Parliament”.

(a) Additionally, the Parliament shall be exempted from any limitations imposed upon penalties that may be imposed against the offending officer, in accordance with the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy.

(b) A majority of the votes shall be required in order to issue the Contempt of Parliament.

Section 3 - Suspension

(1) Suspension - In cases of emergency, the Parliament may pass a legislation to suspend the habeas corpus for a specified period.

(a) Any Acts of Parliament suspending the habeas corpus may not remain in effect indefinitely and must be renewed by the Parliament every three month at maximum or less.

(b)Whenever the right of habeas corpus are suspended, no Members or Lords of Parliament may be imprisoned unless the House they belonged to first gave its consent to his/her imprisonment.

Section 4 - Definitions

(1) “Imprisonment” shall be defined as any of the following:

(a) “Kick” or suspension from IRC or Virtual Paradise for a temporary period

(b) “Ejection” or “ban” from IRC or Virtual Paradise, of either semi-permanent or permanent nature

(c) Confinement to a building or a facility in Virtual Paradise designated for imprisonment.

(2) “Peace officer” shall be defined to include any of the following officers authorized by the Acts of Parliament:

(a) Sheriff or sheriff’s deputies,

(b) IRC moderators, excluding the Administrator of Virtual Paradise.

(3) “Court” shall be defined to include any courts established below the Parliament.

(a) If no courts has been established below the Parliament, then the “Court” shall be construed to mean the Parliament