An application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus is filed when a person seeks relief from unlawful detention or imprisonment. The displacement of civilian government distinguishes it from other emergency powers, such as the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.The writ of habeas corpus is a fundamental right that ensures that a person's detention is justified and lawful. And when a habeas corpus is served on the commanding officer, re quiring him to produce the prisoner before a Justice of the Supreme. This Chapter explains the writ of habeas corpus and lays out the procedures you will need to follow to petition for the writ. A writ of habeas corpus is used to bring a prisoner or other detainee (e.g. Any prisoner, or another person acting on their behalf, may petition the court, or a judge, for a writ of habeas corpus. 144 REHNQUIST, supra note 106, at 60. In some jurisdictions, the courts have introduced new distinctions that permit the remedy of habeas corpus to coexist in a martial law environment. The 1953 Supreme Court decision Burns v.