Due process

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Due process is the term for the legal requirement a government must follow in respecting all of a person's legal rights. It binds the government into exactly following the rule of law when dealing with its people. Most often, it is used in reference to criminal trials or the taking of land. Due process is usually set up in order to protect individuals from any form of arbitrary punishments or burdens. It is one of the cornerstones of the rule of law, as opposed to rule of men, because it removes arbitrary powers from government officials.

In the Magna Carta, due process is referred to as "legal judgement of peers" and the "law of the land."

[edit] In the United States

In the US, it was first established in the Constitution with Amendment V. It was later revisited in Amendment XIV to protect people from state and local government that wouldn't provide due process. The ideas that due process provide for include:

  • When property is taken from a person, the owner must be compensated
  • The right to a competent, public, and fair trial
  • The government can only take away property for public purposes
  • The right to be present at one's trial
  • Taxes may only be levied for public purposes
  • The right to an impartial jury
  • Laws must be written in such a way so that any reasonable person may understand what constitutes criminal behavior
  • The right to be heard in one's own defense

Lately, due process has become an issue in regards to the detention of suspected terrorists in places such as Guantanamo Bay.

[edit] References


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