Unit 2 Courts. Legal Procedure

Attorney = counsellor

a lawyer who speaks in court (AmE)

Mr Clark is a prominent attorney.

Barrister

a lawyer who speaks in the higher law courts (BrE)

Mrs Green wants to become a barrister.

Defendant

the person who has been accused of a crime

The defendant was obviously guilty.

(Circumstantial / decisive / documentary / irrefutable, etc) evidence (of/for)

Give evidence

some information given in a court of law to prove some­thing

There was no real evidence against the criminal.

The girl gave evidence for the defence in this case.

Jury

a group of 12 people in a court of law who listen to the facts about a crime and decide whether the person accused is guilty or not

The jury found the defendant guilty.

Indict smb (for) smth Indictment

to charge someone with a criminal offence

They indicted the man for

fraud.

The man is under indictment

for fraud.

Lawsuit

File a lawsuit

a charge or complaint against someone that is made in a court of law by a person / company

They wanted to bring / file a lawsuit against the company.

Prosecute (smb for smth)

Bring a prosecution against smb

Prosecutor

to accuse someone of a crime

to bring a charge against some­one for a crime

a lawyer who proves that the person who is on trial is guilty

The murderer will be prosecuted. They brought a prosecution against two drug dealers.

The chief prosecutor asked for the maximum sentence.

Solicitor

a lawyer who works mainly from an office but sometimes appear in the less important courts

John works for a firm of solici­tors.

We decided to put the matter into the hands of a solicitor.

Summon smb to smth

Summons

Serve a summons on smb Summons

to order someone to come to a

court of law

an order to appear in a court of

law

to order someone to appear in a

court of law

Mr Thomson was summoned to appear in court.

They served a summons on Mr

Thomson.

He was summonsed to appear

as a witness.

Testimony

Testify (that / against /for)

a formal statement, such as the one a witness makes in a court of law

to make a formal statement in a court of law

Your testimony is very import­ant in this prosecution's case.

The witness testified that she saw the defendant at the scene of the crime.

She testified against the defendant He testified for the accused.

(Chief/ direct /false, etc) wit­ness (for the prosecution /for the defence);

Witness (v)

a person who sees some event and is able to tell other people what happened (in a court of law)

The witness was called to tell the jury what he had seen. Several people witnessed the accident.

Warrant

(Issue a warrant for smb's

arrest)

Search warrant

permission from a court of law allowing the police to take a particular action

permission to go into someone’s house to look for something

A warrant was issued for Ben's arrest.

(Return /give) a verdict

(Reach) a verdict

a decision made by a jury in a court of law about whether someone is guilty or not guilty of a crime

The jury gave the right verdict

(Heavy, light) sentence

Life sentence

Death sentence (penalty)

Serve a sentence

long / short time in prison

very long time in prison punishment by death

spend time in prison as a pun­ishment

Ted is serving a life sentence for murder.

Bill will face a sentence of five years in prison.

Pass / pronounce a sentence

Sentence (to)

to state what a punishment will

be

to give somebody a punishment

The judge sentenced him to four years' imprisonment.

(Parking) fine

Impose a fine

money that one has to pay as a punishment

He paid a parking fine.

He paid a heavy fine for driv­ing drunk.

(Life) imprisonment

the state of being in prison

The criminal was sentenced to a long term of imprisonment.

Bail

Release smb on bail

to let someone out of prison when bail is paid (money left with a court of law to prove that a prisoner will return when his/her trial starts)

They released the accused on bail.

(Give smb)community service

a punishment in which the criminal has to do useful work to help people

They gave the youth commun­ity service.

(Make smb) pay compensation

to make one pay somebody money because one has harmed or hurt him/her in some way

Many people think that crimi­nals should pay their victims compensation.

Ban smb from doing smth / to be banned from doing sth

to say that something must not be done

Ted was banned from driving.

Endorse smb s licence (BrE)

to write a driving offence on smb's driving licence

Tom's licence was endorsed for speeding.

(On) parole

To parole

permission for someone to

leave prison, on the condition

that he/she promises to behave

well

to allow someone to leave

prison but visit a parole officer

at the police station regularly

The criminal was released on parole after serving three years.

(Put smb on) probation

Probationer

a system that allows some criminals not to go to prison but see a probation officer someone who has been put on

probation

The woman was put on proba­tion after several months in prison.

Probation officer

an officer who guides offenders put on probation by the court

Tom Brown is a probation officer.

Dismiss a court case

to stop a court case before a result is achieved

They dismissed the case because of lack of evidence.