📜 Chapter 1: Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship
What does habeas corpus give a person the right to do?
Correct answer: Test the lawfulness of their detention
✓ Test the lawfulness of their detention
B Refuse to answer questions in court
C Choose the judge who hears their case
D Leave Canada without a passport
💡 Explanation
Habeas corpus lets someone held by the state test whether that detention is lawful.
Key facts to remember
- Habeas corpus is the right to challenge unlawful detention
- It protects a person held by the state without legal grounds
- It comes from English common law
Why this is the answer
From the official Discover Canada study guide — 1.1.3 Habeas Corpus:
Habeas corpus is one of the oldest protections a person can have. It is the right to challenge the state when the state holds someone in detention unlawfully. If you are locked up without legal grounds, you are not helpless — you can contest it. This right did not start in Canada. It arrived through English common law, which is one of the sources of Canadian law. It belongs to the same long tradition of ordered liberty that Canadians inherited from Britain.
More questions from this topic
Ready to practice more?
Take a full mock exam with 20 questions - just like the real test.
Take a Practice Test