- due process
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due process n1: a course of formal proceedings (as judicial proceedings) carried out regularly, fairly, and in accordance with established rules and principles – called also procedural due process;2: a requirement that laws and regulations must be related to a legitimate government interest (as crime prevention) and may not contain provisions that result in the unfair or arbitrary treatment of an individual – called also substantive due process;◇ The guarantee of due process is found in the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which states “no person shall...be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” and in the Fourteenth Amendment, which states “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” The boundaries of due process are not fixed and are the subject of endless judicial interpretation and decision-making. Fundamental to procedural due process is adequate notice prior to the government's deprivation of one's life, liberty, or property, and an opportunity to be heard and defend one's rights to life, liberty, or property. Substantive due process is a limit on the government's power to enact laws or regulations that affect one's life, liberty, or property rights. It is a safeguard from governmental action that is not related to any legitimate government interest or that is unfair, irrational, or arbitrary in its furtherance of a government interest. The requirement of due process applies to agency actions.3: the right to due processacts that violated due process
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.
- due process
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noun
due process of law, legal fairness, legal safeguards, protection against deprivations, protection guarantees, protection of deprivation of accepted legal principles Generally:{{}}fundamental fairness Specifically:{{}}Fifth Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment
associated concepts: procedural due process, right to confront accuser, substantive due process
Burton's Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006
- due process
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n. A Constitutionally determined doctrine requiring that any legal proceeding or legislation protect or respect certain rights of the persons or groups involved in the proceedings or affected by the legislation.See also fundamental fairness.@ procedural due processThe requirement that a legal proceeding affords an affected person, such as the defendant in a criminal case, certain rights such as that of notice of the charges or claims, and an opportunity to contest them before a neutral tribunal. These rights are defined by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and by court cases thereunder.=>> due process.@ substantive due processThe Constitutional requirement that federal, state, and local legislation should not interfere with the rights defined by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, unless such legislation serves a compelling governmental interest in the subject matter, and utilizes the least restrictive means to accomplish that interest.=>> due process.@
Webster's New World Law Dictionary. Susan Ellis Wild. 2000.