"...International law guarantees the right of all individuals deprived of their liberty to an expeditious judicial procedure in which an independent and impartial court reviews the legality of their detention and orders the release of individuals wrongfully detained.1 This right is commonly referred to as ?habeas corpus? in legal systems that are based on common law. The right entitles anyone who is deprived of liberty by arrest or detention to take proceedings before a court, in order that the court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of the detention and order release if the detention is not lawful. The right to challenge the lawfulness of detention before a court is a self-standing human right, the denial of which constitutes a human rights violation. Habeas corpus protects personal liberty or physical integrity by means of a judicial decree ordering the appropriate authorities to bring the detained person before a judge so that the lawfulness of the detention may be determined and, if appropriate, the release of the detainee ordered. In Myanmar under military rule from 1962 until 2008, there was no effective mechanism to challenge the lawfulness of detention before a court. One of the major (and unanticipated) improvements in Myanmar?s 2008 Constitution was the reintroduction of the writ of habeas corpus. Since then, the government has passed an ?Application of Writs Act 2014” and the Supreme Court has promulgated rules and procedures for its implementation. In order to assist and propel the process of judicial reform and strengthen the protection of human rights, the International Commission of Jurists provides this discussion of the law relevant to the writ of habeas corpus under international law as well as Myanmar?s current national law. The following are of particular significance: • Analysis of international standards for challenging arbitrary or unlawful arrest or detention (including that which results in torture and ill-treatment of detainees)... • Analysis of Myanmar?s current legal framework for the Constitutional writ of habeas corpus... • Analysis of the seemingly forgotten and underutilized procedure for challenging arbitrary arrest and detention (similar to the writ of habeas corpus) under Section 491 of the 1898 Code of Criminal Procedure... • Analysis of the few publicly available recent petitions for the writ of habeas corpus... • Analysis of relevant existing precedents (pre-1962) from the Myanmar judiciary?s case law on habeas corpus....."