Country Foundations

Freedom from arbitrary detention (habeas corpus)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 9. In the US Constitution: Article I §9 (Suspension Clause).

Constitutions declaring it
130 / 158
US declares it
100%
US practices it
81%

Does declaring it change anything?

Distribution of practiced scores, split by whether the constitution declares the right. If the two distributions look alike, the words on the page are not doing much work on their own.

Constitutions that declare it (130)
0100
Constitutions that are silent (23)
0100

Mean practiced score: 62% where declared, versus 60% where silent.

What the text actually says

Passages tagged with this topic, from the Constitute Project.

United States

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

Amendment VI

Amendment VI In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

South Africa

Everyone has the right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right- not to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause;

Everyone has the right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right- not to be detained without trial;

Country by country

CountryDeclaredPracticed
Afghanistan100%21%
Albania100%72%
Algeria100%59%
Angola100%55%
Argentina100%63%
Armenia100%72%
Azerbaijan100%44%
Bahrain100%44%
Bangladesh100%45%
Barbados100%71%
Belarus100%28%
Belgium100%95%
Benin100%69%
Bhutan100%75%
Bolivia100%53%
Botswana100%70%
Brazil100%63%
Bulgaria100%73%
Burma/Myanmar100%33%
Cambodia100%36%
Cameroon100%47%
Canada100%74%
Cape Verde100%65%
Central African Republic100%43%
Chad100%38%
Chile100%74%
China100%49%
Colombia100%58%
Comoros100%36%
Costa Rica100%83%
Croatia100%69%
Cuba100%31%
Cyprus100%85%
Denmark100%100%
Djibouti100%58%
Dominican Republic100%51%
Ecuador100%55%
Egypt100%60%
El Salvador100%28%
Eritrea100%36%
Estonia100%82%
Eswatini100%54%
Fiji100%72%
Finland100%87%
France100%74%
Georgia100%68%
Ghana100%64%
Greece100%81%
Guatemala100%44%
Guinea-Bissau100%46%
Haiti100%35%
Honduras100%53%
Hungary100%69%
Iceland100%82%
India100%53%
Iran100%46%
Iraq100%44%
Ireland100%88%
Israel100%77%
Italy100%88%