What we are talking about, of course, is habeas corpus, a Latin phrase meaning "you should have the body. Habeas corpus is a Latin phrase meaning "produce the body.The Habeas Corpus Act 1679 is an Act of Parliament in England (31 Cha. 2. c. Federal habeas corpus is a procedure under which a federal court may review the legality of an individual's incarceration. Habeas corpus is a centuriesold legal procedure that protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment. During just about any conversation with a civil liberties advocate or constitutional lawyer, the concept of habeas corpus will likely come up. There's a part in the Magna Carta that the people seemed to really like. One freedom that the people have kept and fought for ever since. An essential safeguard of personal liberty is the writ of habeas corpus. The term comes from the first two words of an old Latin legal form.