''Male captus, bene detentus'' (wrongly captured, properly detained) is a
legal doctrine
A legal doctrine is a framework, set of rules, Procedural law, procedural steps, or Test (law), test, often established through precedent in the common law, through which judgments can be determined in a given legal case. A doctrine comes about w ...
, according to which the fact that a person may have been wrongly or unfairly
arrest
An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...
ed, will not
prejudice
Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...
a rightful detention or
trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...
under
due process
Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...
.
There is state practice in support of the doctrine, as well as contrary state practice. In one of its cases the
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
held that where a person from another country is apprehended by irregular means, the right to set up as defense the unlawful manner by which he was brought to a
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...
belongs "to the Government from whose territory he was wrongfully taken".
[Ker v. Illinois, 119 U.S. 436 (1886)]
Further reading
* Paulussen, C. Y. M. (2010):
Male Captus Bene Detentus? Surrendering suspects to the International Criminal Court.' Intersentia.
Notes
Legal doctrines and principles
Legal rules with Latin names
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