Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1798

Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1798 (38 Geo. III, c. 36) was an Act passed by the British Parliament.

On 28 February 1798 five members of the leading Jacobin Societies were arrested at Margate, trying to travel to France. After interrogating them for evidence, arrests of others occurred in Leicester, Manchester and London where forty-seven members of the London Corresponding Society were arrested between 18 and 20 April. Some of these were released in a few days and some held for nearly three years. To facilitate these arrests, the suspension of habeas corpus was passed, although only one of the Margate five was convicted. The Act expired on 1 February 1799, although the Foxite MPs had wished for 1 November.