The term ‘defendant’ is not used in Scotland.Īcquittal – A verdict of a jury, or a decision of a Judge, Sheriff or Justice of the Peace. Where a person is charged before a court of summary jurisdiction with an offence (other than an offence the sentence for which is fixed by law) and the court is satisfied that he or she committed the offence, the court, if it is of the opinion, having regard to the circumstances including the nature of the offence and the character of the offender, that it is not appropriate to inflict punishment may without proceeding to conviction make an order discharging him or her absolutely.Īccused – Refers to a person alleged to have committed a crime.
a person is convicted on Indictment of an offence (other than an offence the sentence for which is fixed by law), if it appears to the court, having regard to the circumstances including the nature of the offence and the character of the offender, that it is not appropriate to inflict punishment it may instead of sentencing him make an order discharging him or her absolutely.AĪbsolute discharge - Instead of sentencing an offender the court may make an order discharging him or her absolutely. If there are words or terms you would like to see added to this page, please get in touch with COPFS and let us know. We have created this alphabetical list to explain what some of our more commonly used terms mean. Sometimes we will use legal terms and language that you may not understand.