Habeas corpus is a legal rule that requires a prisoner be presented in court and that the arrester prove that there is proper cause for detaining the prisoner. The writ of habeas corpus is a legal order requiring a person holding another person to produce that individual before a court or judge.Translated from Latin it means "show me the body. Examples of writ of habeas corpus in a Sentence. Recent Examples on the Web. It gives judges the power to require law enforcement to justify an arrest. The term "habeas corpus" is Latin. Habeas Corpus is a legal principle that protects an individual's right to not be unlawfully detained or imprisoned. 2019); 1 BOUVIER'S LAW DICTIONARY, (11th ed. A writ of habeas corpus is a legal order that requires the custodian to bring the detained individual before a court or judge.