ABSTRACT
Habeas Corpus ensures freedom from arbitrary arrest by requiring that within a limited period of time those arrested are either released or charged and brought to trial. This safeguard of personal liberty was extended from criminal to other charges by the Habeas Corpus Act of 1816. In the following year, however, such was the perceived threat of unrest following the mobbing of the Prince Regent’s coach, that the authorities suspended Habeas Corpus as well as passing the Seditious Meetings Act. In the event, the latter was allowed to lapse and the former was restored the following year, during which time just forty-four individuals had been imprisoned without trial.
