| EXPRESSION | MEANING |
|---|
| account monitoring order | an order requiring certain types of financial institution to provide certain information held by them relating to a customer for the purposes of an investigation; |
| action plan order | a type of community sentence requiring a child or young person to comply with a three month plan relating to his actions and whereabouts and to comply with the directions of a responsible officer (e.g. probation officer); |
| to adduce | to put forward (in evidence); |
| to adjourn | to suspend or delay the hearing of a case until another day; |
| admission of evidence | acceptance by the court of the evidence into proceedings (not all evidence tendered by the parties may be allowable in court); |
| advance information | information about the case against an accused, to which the accused may be entitled before he or she enters a plea; |
| affidavit | a written, sworn statement of evidence; |
| affirmation | a non-religious alternative to the oath sworn by someone about to give evidence in court or swearing a statement; |
| appellant | person who is appealing against a decision of the court; |
| to arraign | to put charges to the defendant in open court in the Crown Court; |
| arraignment | the formal process of putting charges to the defendant in the Crown Court which consists of three parts: (1) calling him to the bar by name, (2) putting the charges to him by reading from the indictment and (3) asking him whether he pleads guilty or not guilty; |
| authorities | judicial decisions or opinions of authors of repute used as grounds of statements of law; |
| bill of indictment | a written accusation of a crime against one or more persons – a criminal trial in the Crown Court cannot start without a valid indictment; |
| in camera (trial) | proceedings which are held in private; |
| case stated | an appeal to the High Court against the decision of a magistrates court on the basis that the decision was wrong in law or in excess of the magistrates' jurisdiction; |
| in chambers | proceedings which may be held in private; |
| child safety order | an order made by a magistrates' court placing a child under the supervision of a responsible officer where the child has committed acts which could, had he been over 10 years old at the time, have constituted an offence, or which have or are likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress; |
| committal | sending someone to a court (usually from a magistrates' court to the Crown court) or to prison; |
| committal for sentence | procedure whereby a person convicted in a magistrates' court is sent to the Crown Court for sentencing when the sentencing powers of the magistrates' court are not considered sufficient; |
| committal proceedings | preliminary hearing in a magistrates' court before a case is sent to be tried before a jury in the Crown Court; |
| compellable witness | a witness who can be forced to give evidence against an accused (not all witnesses are compellable); |
| compensation order | an order that a convicted person must pay compensation for loss or damage caused by the convicted person; |
| complainant | a person who makes a formal complaint. In relation to an offence of rape or other sexual offences the complainant is the person against whom the offence is alleged to have been committed; |
| complaint | document used to start certain types of proceedings in a magistrates' court, or the process of using such a document to start proceedings; |
| conditional discharge | an order which does not impose any immediate punishment on a person convicted of an offence, subject to the condition that he does not commit an offence in a specified period; |
| confiscation order | an order that private property be taken into possession by the state; |
| Convention right | a right under the European Convention on Human Rights; |
| costs | the expenses involved in a court case, including the fees of the solicitors and barristers and of the court; |
| counsel | a barrister; |
| cross examination | questioning of a witness by a party other than the party who called the witness; |
| custody time limit | the maximum period, as set down in statute, for which a person may be kept in custody before being brought to trial – these maximum periods may only be extended by an order of the judge; |
| customer information order | an order requiring a financial institution to provide certain information held by them relating to a customer for the purposes of an investigation into the proceeds of crime; |
| declaration of incompatibility | a declaration by a court that a piece of UK legislation is incompatible with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights; |
| deferred sentence | a sentence which is determined after a delay to allow the court to assess any change in the person's conduct or circumstances after his or her conviction; |
| deposition | written record of a witness' written evidence; |
| estreatment (of recognizance) | forfeiture; |
| evidence in chief | the evidence given by a witness for the party who called him; |
| examining justice | a magistrate carrying out his or her function of checking that a case appears on the face of the prosecution case papers to exist against an accused before the case is put forward for trial in the Crown Court – see committal and sending for trial; |
| exhibit | a document or thing presented as evidence in court; |
| ex parte | a hearing where only one party is allowed to attend and make submissions; |
| forfeiture by peaceable re-entry | the re-possession by a landlord of premises occupied by tenants; |
| guardianship order | an order appointing someone to take charge of a child's affairs and property; |
| hearsay evidence | oral or written statements made by someone who is not a witness in the case but which the court is asked to accept as proving what they say. This expression is defined further by rule 34.1 for the purposes of Part 34, and by rule 57.1 for the purposes of Parts 57 - 61; |
| hospital order | an order that an offender be admitted to and detained in a specified hospital; |
| indictment | the document containing the formal charges against a defendant – a trial in the Crown Court cannot start without this; |
| informant | someone who lays an information; |
| information | statement by which a magistrate is informed of the offence for which a summons or warrant is required – the procedure by which this statement is brought to the magistrates' attention is known as laying an information; |
| inter partes | a hearing where both parties attend and can make submissions; |
| interested party | a person or organisation who is not the prosecutor or defendant, but who has some other legal interest in a criminal case. This expression is defined further in rule 66.1, for the purposes of Part 66 only. |
| intermediary | a person who asks a witness (particularly a child) questions posed by the cross-examining legal representative; |
| justice of the peace | a lay magistrate or District Judge (Magistrates' Courts); |
| justices' clerk | post in the magistrates' court of person who has various powers and duties in a magistrates' court, including giving advice to the magistrates on law and procedure; |
| leave of the court | permission granted by the court; |
| leave to appeal | permission granted to appeal the decision of a court; |
| letter of request | letter issued to a foreign court asking a judge to take the evidence of some person within that court's jurisdiction; |
| to levy distress | to seize property from a debtor or a wrongdoer; |
| live link | audio and/or video equipment set up in order to enable evidence to be given from outside the court room in which a case is being heard; |
| local justice area | an area established for the purposes of the administration of magistrates' courts; |
| mandatory order | order from the divisional Court of the Queen's Bench Division ordering a body (such as a magistrates' court) to do something (such as rehear a case); |
| nominated court | a court nominated to take evidence pursuant to a request by a foreign court; |
| notice of transfer | procedure used in cases of serious and complex fraud, and in certain cases involving child witnesses, whereby the prosecution can, without seeking judicial approval, have the case sent direct to the Crown Court without the need to have the accused committed for trial; |
| offence triable either way | an offence which may be tried either in the magistrates' court or in the Crown Court; |
| offence triable only on indictment | an offence which can be tried only in the Crown Court; |
| offence triable only summarily | an offence which can be tried only in a magistrates' court; |
| in open court | in a courtroom which is open to the public; |
| order of committal | an order sending someone to prison for contempt of court; |
| order restricting discharge | an order restricting the discharge from hospital of patients who have been sent there for psychiatric treatment; |
| parenting order | an order which can be made in certain circumstances where a child has been convicted of an offence which may require parents of the offender to comply with certain requirements including attendance of counselling or guidance sessions; |
| party | a person or organisation directly involved in a criminal case, either as prosecutor or defendant; |
| practice direction | direction relating to the practice and procedure of the courts; |
| to prefer, preferment | to bring or lay a charge or indictment; |
| preparatory hearing | a hearing forming part of the trial sometimes used in long and complex cases to settle various issues without requiring the jury to attend; |
| prima facie case | a prosecution case which is strong enough to require the defendant to answer it; |
| primary legislation | Acts of Parliament; |
| realisable property | property which can be sold for money. |
| receiver | a person appointed with certain powers in respect of the property and affairs of a person who has obtained such property in the course of criminal conduct and who has been convicted of an offence – there are various types or receiver (management receiver, director's receiver, enforcement receiver); |
| receivership order | an order that a person's assets be put into the hands of an official with certain powers and duties to deal with that property; |
| recognizance | formal undertaking to pay the crown a specified sum if an accused fails to surrender to custody; |
| register | the formal records kept by a magistrates' court; |
| to remand | to send a person away when a case is adjourned until another date – the person may be remanded on bail (when he can leave, subject to conditions) or in custody; |
| reparation order | an order made against a child or young person who has been convicted of an offence, requiring him or her to make specific reparations to the victim or to the community at large; |
| representation order | an order authorising payment of legal aid for a defendant; |
| requisition | a document issued under section 29 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 requiring a person to appear before a magistrates' court to answer a written charge |
| respondent | the other party (to the appellant) in a case which is the subject of an appeal; |
| restraint order | an order prohibiting a person from dealing with any realisable property held by him; |
| seal | a formal mark which the court puts on a document to indicate that the document has been issued by the court; |
| security | money deposited to ensure that the defendant attends court; |
| sending for trial | procedure whereby indictable offences are transferred to the Crown Court without the need for a committal hearing in the magistrates' court; |
| skeleton argument | a document prepared by a party or their legal representative, setting out the basis of the party's argument, including any arguments based on law – the court may require such documents to be served on the court and on the other party prior to a trial; |
| special measures | measures which can be put in place to provide protection and/or anonymity to a witness (e.g. a screen separating witness from the accused); |
| statutory declaration | a declaration made before a Commissioner for Oaths in a prescribed form; |
| to stay | to halt proceedings, apart from taking any steps allowed by the Rules or the terms of the stay - proceedings may be continued if a stay is lifted; |
| summons | a document signed by a magistrate after an information is laid before a him which sets out the basis of the accusation against the accused and the time and place when he must appear; |
| supervision order | an order placing a person who has been given a suspended sentence under the supervision of a local officer; |
| surety | a person who guarantees that a defendant will attend court; |
| suspended sentence | sentence which takes effect only if the offender commits another offence punishable with imprisonment within the specified period; |
| tainted acquittal | an acquittal affected by interference with a witness or a juror; |
| taxation of costs | the assessment of the expenses involved in a court case; |
| taxing authority | a body which assesses costs; |
| Taxing Master | a judge who assesses costs; |
| territorial authority | the UK authority which has power to do certain things in connection with co-operation with other countries and international organisations in relation to the collection of or hearing of evidence etc; |
| transfer direction (mental health) | a direction that a person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment who is suffering from a mental disorder be transferred to a hospital and be detained there for treatment; |
| warrant of arrest | court order to arrest a person; |
| warrant of commitment | court order sending someone to prison; |
| warrant of detention | a court order authorising someone's detention; |
| warrant of distress | court order giving the power to seize goods from a debtor to pay his debts; |
| wasted costs order | an order that a barrister or solicitor is not to be paid fees that they would normally be paid by the Legal Services Commission; |
| witness | a person who gives evidence, either by way of a written statement or orally in court; |
| witness summons | a document served on a witness requiring him or her to attend court to give evidence; |
| writ of venire de novo | an order directing a new trial, after a mistrial involving a fundamental irregularity; |
| written charge | a document issued by a public prosecutor under section 29 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 which institutes criminal proceedings by charging a person with an offence |
| youth court | magistrates' courts exercising jurisdiction over offences committed by and other matters related to, children and young persons. |
