To secure a conviction

the Crownn – a sovereign; to act for the Crown

to exercise discretion

dockn enclosure in a criminal court for the prisoner

to be in the dock

executev to kill sb as a lawful punishment; She was executed for murder; execution n

feudn a bitter quarrel between two persons, families or groups over a long period of time

to be at feud with smb

judiciaryn /the + sing./pl./ all the judges in the court of law, considered as one group and forming one of the branches of government: The judiciary has/have been consulted. judicial adj a judicial decision

justice n the action or power of the law. The police do all they can to bring criminals to justice

juryn + sing/pl. verb a group of usu. 12 people chosen to hear all details of a case in a court of law and give their decision on it.

The jury has/have returned/given a verdict of guilty. The jury find/finds the accused guilty or not guilty.

manslaughter n the crime of killing a person illegally but not intentionally

mitigaten make less severe, violent or painful; mitigating circumstancesthose that may make a mistake, crime, etc seem less serious; mitigationn

oathn solemn declaration that smth is true; be on/under oath(legal) having sworn to tell the truth; The judge reminded the witness that he was still under oath.

to put smbunder oathto require to swear an oath.

pardonv, n an action of a court forgiving a person for an illegal act and giving freedom from punishment; to pardonsbforsmth

penaltyn a penalty for breaking a law, rule, or legal punishment

to pay the penalty for smth; the death penalty

plaintiffn person who brings an action at law

plea for smthn an urgent or serious request; a statement by smb in a court of law, saying whether or not they are guilty of a charge

The accused entered a plea of “not guilty”.

pleadv ~ for/against sb; address a court of law as a an advocate on behalf of either the plaintiff or the defendant;

to plead guilty/ not guiltyadmit/deny the one is guilty: “How do you plead? – Not guilty, my Lord.”

redressn payment for a wrong that has been done

You must seek redress in the law courts for the damage to your car.

rehabilitatev to make (a person) able to live a healthy, useful, or active life again, esp. After being ill or in prison; rehabilitation n

reprisal, also reprisalsn 1. Paying back injury with injury; do smth by way of reprisal 2. pl acts of retaliation, esp. of one country or another during a war

to carry out reprisals againstsmb

retaliate against/upon– v return the same sort of ill treatment that one has received; retaliate upon one’s enemy. He retaliated by kicking the other fellow on the ankle. If we raise our import duties on their goods, they may retaliate against us.

retaliationnreturning ill treatment for ill treatmentin retaliation for retaliatoryadj retaliatory measures

retribution (for)n a severe deserved punishment; retributiveadj

revenge (for, on) n in revenge; to take revenge onsb; to revenge oneself onsb = to take revenge on sb

sentencen statement by a judge of punishment

a six-year sentence; prison/ jail sentence; the death sentence; a life sentence; to serve a sentence

suspended sentence a punishment given by a court which the offender only has to serve if he or she commits another crime in that period of time

settlev make an agreement about; decide, determine; That settles the matter. It’s time you settled the dispute/argument. Nothing is settled yet. Lawsuit was settled amicably/ out of court.

settledfixed; unchanging, permanent; a man of settled conviction. settlementn the act of settling (a dispute, debt, etc) The terms of settlement seem just. We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles. The strikers have reached a settlement with the employers.

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 953