Habeas Corpus

SEC 1 SCOPE
To what extent does HC extend?
 All cases of illegal confinement or detention
 Any person
o Deprived of liberty
o The rightful custody of any person is withheld from the person entitled thereto.

What is the purpose of the writ?

 It is to relieve a person from unlawful restraint
 To liberate those who may be imprisoned without sufficient cause
 Essentially a writ of inquiry
 A remedy to determine whether the person under detention is held under lawful authority.
 The essential object and purpose of the writ of habeas corpus is to inquire into all manner of
involuntary restraint as distinguished from voluntary, and to relieve a person therefrom if such
restraint is illegal. Any restraint which will preclude freedom of action is sufficient.
 The sole function of the writ is to relieve from unlawful imprisonment, and ordinarily it cannot
properly be used for any other purpose. Thus it has been held that the writ cannot properly be
used: to enforce a right to service; to determine whether a person has committed a crime; to
determine a disputed interstate boundary line; to punish respondent, or to afford the injured
person redress, for the illegal detention; to recover damages or other money award

When may the HC be suspended?

 GR: you cannot suspend
 EX:
o Invasion
o Rebellion
o Public safety requires

NATURE
 It is an inquisition by the government, at the suggestion and instance of an individual, most
probably, but still in the name and capacity of the sovereign.
 It is in REM and instituted for the sole purpose of fixing the status of a person.
 They deal simply with the detention of the prisoner and stop with the authority by virtue of
which he is detained.
 "The question whether the individual shall be imprisoned is always distinct from the question
whether he shall be convicted or acquitted of the charge on which he is tried, and therefore
these question are separate, and may be decided in different courts."

WHO may avail of the Writ?

 Every person who is unlawfully imprisoned or restrained of his liberty under any pretense.
 The writ of habeas corpus is not designed to interrupt the orderly administration of the laws by a
competent court acting within the limits of its jurisdiction, but is available only for the purpose
 of relieving from illegal restraint, and persons restrained of their liberty by virtue of the final
judgment of any competent tribunal or by virtue of any execution issued thereon are excluded,
generally speaking, from the benefits of the writ, as such persons are not illegally restrained, but
are deprived of their liberty by due process of law.
 Where a person continues to be unlawfully denied one or more of his constitutional freedoms,
where there is present a denial of due process, where the restraints are not merely involuntary
but appear to be unnecessary, and where a deprivation of freedom originally valid has, in the
light of subsequent developments, become arbitrary, the person concerned or those applying in
his behalf may still avail themselves of the privilege of the writ.

Does the temporary release render the petition, MOOT?

 GR: YES
 EX: when there are restraints attached to his release which precludes freedom of action in which
case the Court can still inquire into the nature of his involuntary restraint

When could Freedom be lost?

 Freedom may be lost due to external moral compulsion, to be founded or groundless fear, to
erroneous belief in the existence of the will.

Can a WHC prosper despite finality of Judgement?

 GR: NO
 EX: when the court had no jurisdiction or the court. Such defect results in the absence or loss of
jurisdiction and therefore invalidates the trial and consequent conviction of the accused whose
fundamental right was violated. That void judgment of conviction may be challenged by
collateral attack, which precisely is the function of habeas corpus.

To which cases will Writ apply?

 Excessive sentence or penalty be corrected
 Persons sentenced to life imprisonment for violations of the DDA the pena;lty of which was
subsequently reduced.
 To regain custody of a minor child
 To resolve the question of custody of a minor child.
o If there is doubt on the identity of the minor on whose behalf the application for the
writ is made, petitioners cannot invoke with certainty their right to the custody of said
minor

What is the controversy involving HC for the custody of the child?

 The controversy does not involve the question of personal freedom, because an infant is
presumed to be in custody of someone until he attains majority age, rather the welfare of the
child is the supreme consideration.

What are the requisites of the issuance of a WHC over the custody of the child?
1. That the petitioner has the right to the custody over the minor,
 2. That the rightful custody of the minor is being withheld from the petitioner by the respondent,
and
3. That it is to the best interest of the minor concerned to be in the custody of petitioner and not
that of respondent

May the WHC be used with the Writ of Certiorari for the purpose of review?
 Yes, The Court held the writs of habeas corpus and certiorari may be ancillary to each other
where necessary to give effect to the supervisory powers of the higher courts. A writ of habeas
corpus reaches the body and the jurisdictional matters, but not the record. A writ of certiorari
reaches the record but not the body. Hence, a writ of habeas corpus may be used with the writ
of certiorari for the purpose of review.
 Thus, while ordinarily, the writ of habeas corpus will not be granted when there is an adequate
remedy by writ of error or appeal or by writ of certiorari, it may, nevertheless, be available in
exceptional cases, for the writ should not be considered subservient to procedural limitations
which glorify form over substance.
 It must be kept in mind that although the question most often considered in both habeas corpus
and certiorari proceedings is whether an inferior court has exceeded its jurisdiction, the former
involves a collateral attack on the judgment and 'reaches the body but not the record," while the
latter assails directly the judgment and "reaches the record but not the body

Is the WHC a writ of error?

 No. In a long line of decision, the Court has consistently held that habeas corpus will not lie to
correct errors of fact or of law. The only exception to this rule is when the error affects the
court's jurisdiction or is one that would make the judgment absolutely void.

May the WHC be issued when there is the remedy of Appeal?

 NO, does not lie where the petitioner has the remedy of appeal or certiorari because it will not
be permitted to perform the functions of a writ of error or appeal for the purpose of reviewing
mere errors or irregularities in the proceedings of a court having jurisdiction over the person and
the subject matter.
 EX: Exceptional circumstances, In the absence of exceptional circumstances, the orderly course
of trial should be pursued and the usual remedies exhausted before the writ may be invoked

SEC 2 WHO may GRANT

 SC and CA = ANYWHERE
 RTC = only within his jurisdiction.

Does the family court have exclusive jurisdiction to the exclusion of others?
 No.
SEC 3 REQUISITES OF APPLICATION
In passing upon a petition for habeas corpus, the Court must determine whether:
(1) the person in whose behalf the application is made is imprisoned or restrained of his liberty;
(2) the name of the person detaining another;
(3) the place where he is imprisoned or restrained of his liberty;
(4) the cause of his detention.

Does the commonlaw wife have the legal standing to file the writ?
 Yes. "some person" under Section 3, Rule 102 of the Rules of Court, which means any person
who has a legally justified interest in the freedom of the person whose liberty is restrained or
who shows some authorization to make the application.

SEC 4 WHEN WRIT NOT ALLOWED

 If it appears that the person alleged to be restrained of his liberty is in the custody of an officer
o under process issued by a court or judge or
o by virtue of a judgment or
o order of a court of record,
And that the court or judge had jurisdiction to issue the process, render the judgment; or make
the order, the writ shall not be allowed;

 Or if the jurisdiction appears after the writ is allowed, the person shall not be discharged by
reason of any informality or defect in the process, judgment, or order.

 Nor shall anything in this rule be held to authorize the discharge of a person charged with or
convicted of an offense in the Philippines, or

 of a person suffering imprisonment under lawful judgment.

GR: The settled rule is that the writ of habeas corpus will not issue where the person alleged to be
restrained of his liberty is in custody of an officer under a process issued by the court which has
jurisdiction to do so.

EX: Even if the arrest of a person is illegal, supervening events may bar his release or discharge from
custody. What is to be inquired into is the legality of his detention as of, at the earliest, the filing of the
application for a writ of habeas corpus, for even if the detention is at its inception illegal, it may, by
reason of some supervening events.

Does the filing of a complaint or information bar the remedy of WHC?

 YES.