due process

IPA/ˌdjuː ˈprəʊ.ses/
IPA/ˌduː ˈprɑː.ses/

due process — noun

1. fair treatment for a person when officials follow the proper legal steps before

1.名詞C1
釋義

fair treatment for a person when officials follow the proper legal steps before making a decision that affects them

例句

The court said the student was expelled without due process.

without due process after official action

School officials must give each student due process before suspending them.

give someone due process before punishment

同義詞
  • procedural fairness

    formal and slightly wider; it stresses the fairness of the steps used

  • fair hearing

    focuses on giving someone a proper chance to speak before a decision

  • legal safeguards

    broader; it can include protections beyond one hearing or case

反義詞

文法句型

deny someone due process

give someone due process

without due process

due-process rights

用法筆記

Often used when a court, school, prison, or other authority must follow fair steps before acting against someone. It commonly appears after verbs such as deny, give, provide, or protect.

常見錯誤

❌The officer gave a due process to the driver.
✅The driver was given due process.
💡'Due process' is usually uncountable, so we do not use 'a' before it.

2. a legal principle that a law itself must have a fair public purpose and must not

2.名詞C2
釋義

a legal principle that a law itself must have a fair public purpose and must not treat people in an unfair or arbitrary way

例句

The lawyer argued that the ban broke due process because it was too vague.

due process limits on vague laws

The tax law failed a due-process test because it punished one group alone.

同義詞
反義詞
  • arbitrary law

    a rule with no fair or reasonable basis for treating people differently

文法句型

violate due process

fail a due-process test

a due-process challenge

under due-process review

用法筆記

Mainly used in American constitutional law when a court asks whether a law itself is fair enough to stand. Distinguish it from sense 1, which focuses on the fairness of the steps used with a person.

常見錯誤

❌The court used due process only to check whether the hearing was polite.
✅The court used due process to ask whether the law itself was unfair or arbitrary.
💡In this sense, the focus is on the law's limits, not only on how politely a hearing was run.