The
Due Process had its beginning in the
Garden of Eden. When
Adam and Eve disobeyed the Commandment of God that they not eat of the forbidden fruit, or else they punish but God did not immediately punish them.
The first thing God said:
" Where art thou Adam?" - thereby giving him notice. The culprits timorously appearing the omnicient, who did not need to be told, neverheless inquire:
" Didst thou eat of the forbidden fruit?" - therby giving him a chance to be heard. The right to notice and hearing were this first observe by the Eternal Judge, this was the groundwork of justice and fair play.
Historically, the origins of due process are traceable to the Magna Carta, was wrung from the barons from
Prince John in 1215 and forever committed by the English monarch to solemn vow that" no man shall be taken or imprisoned or disseized or outlawed, or in any manner destroyed; nor shall we go upon him, nor sand upon him, but by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land."
In 1355,
" Law of the Land" was used first by King Edward III''s statue 28, declared that " no man, of what state or condition wherever he be, shall be put out of his hands, or tenements, nor taken, nor imprisoned, nor indicted, nor put to death without he be brought into answer by due process of Law."
The argument in the famous Darmouth College Case, Daniel Webster was to declare that the Law of the Land meant
" the general, a law which hears before it condemns, which proceed upon inquiry and renders judgement only after trials."
Meant that Due Process is a Constitutional safeguard, worded as;
"No person shall be deprive of life, Liberty, or property without due process of law"
Due Process is a guaranty against arbitrariness on the part of the government whether committed by the legislature, the executive or the judiciary.
If the law itself deprives a person of his life or his liberty or his property he is denied the protection of due process. If the enjoyment of his right is conditioned on an unreasonable requirements due process is likewise violated.
Due process has dual aspect: The subtantive and procedural due process.
The essence of due process is expressed in the immortal cry of Themistocles to Eurybiades ;
"Strike, but hear me first!" While subtantive requires the intrinsic validity of the Law in interferring with the rights of the person to his life, liberty, or property.