due process

noun

1

: a course of formal proceedings (such as legal proceedings) carried out regularly and in accordance with established rules and principles

called also procedural due process

2

: a judicial requirement that enacted laws may not contain provisions that result in the unfair, arbitrary, or unreasonable treatment of an individual

called also substantive due process

Examples of due process in a Sentence

Due process requires that evidence not be admitted when it is obtained through illegal methods.

Recent Examples on the Web

In light of the data, the Legislature should give their proposals serious consideration, while keeping in mind how the old system often trampled on the due process rights of defendants. —Zellnor Myrie, New York Daily News, 7 Jan. 2025

An Idaho federal judge ruled the state’s prohibition violated the U.S. Constitution’s due process clause in 2014, which was followed a year later by the nationwide court decision. —Ian Max Stevenson, Idaho Statesman, 7 Jan. 2025

In a joint statement announcing the suit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia the steel companies allege that Mr. Biden's Jan. 3 decision to block the deal was made for political reasons that violated their due process. —Kate Gibson, CBS News, 6 Jan. 2025

The companies have complained about a lack of due process throughout the review. —Jeff Stein and David J. Lynch The Washington Post, arkansasonline.com, 4 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Legal Definition

due process

noun

1

: 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

Note: 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 process

acts that violated due process