House arrest
judicial penalty in which a person is confined to their residence
House arrest (also called home confinement) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted and may require prior approval.
Since the introduction of electronic tagging, a person under house arrest may be monitored electronically, and their movements are typically tracked. House arrest is also used in some cases for individuals convicted of minor offenses. In certain situations, such as in authoritarian regimes, house arrest may be used to restrict the freedom of political dissidents against political governments, sometimes limiting or monitoring their communication with the outside world. If electronic communication is allowed, conversations may be monitored. There is much criticism of the effectiveness of house arrest.
History
Authorities have imposed sentences of home confinement, as an alternative to prison, as far back as the 17th century. Galileo was confined to his home following his second trial in 1633.
The public source identifies “House arrest” as judicial penalty in which a person is confined to their residence. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around House, arrest and judicial.
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Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q320994. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1633.
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This entry incorporates text from “House arrest” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.