GLOSSARY

Parties

The parties in a criminal prosecution are the (public) prosecutor and the
defendant [accused person]. ()

The parties in [a civil court action] [civil court proceedings] are the plaintif
[pursuer] [complainant] [applicant] and the defendant [defender] [respondent].

In criminal cases, the prosecutor lodges an indictment with the court to start the
proceedings. Ot the prosecutor may [reject] [drop] [cancel] the criminal charges
and decide to [stop][withdraw] the prosecution of the case.

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In civil cases, the plaintif raises a court action [starts court proceedings] by
lodging a claim with [submitting a complaint to] the court.

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During the proceedings, the court may summon [call] the parties and witnesses
to appear at hearings.

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First instance

After considering all the facts and law, and hearing evidence and witnesses, the
First Instance Court delivers [hands down] [renders] [issues] a judgment [ruling]
[decision].

In criminal cases the verdict of the court can either be:

- the conviction of the defendant, ie a [guilty verdict against the defendant]

[proven verdict]

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- or the acquittal of the defendant, ie. a [not guilty] [not proven] [innocent]
verdict.

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The criminal cases the court may impose a sentence [penalty] [sanction]. This
can be anything from a fine, to a suspended sentence to imprisonment [prison
sentence] [incarceration]. In modern English, sanction more commonly means to
approve, permit or endorse, not to punish or penalise; the latter (older) meaning
is nowadays mainly used to denote an instrument of international relations (eg
economic or trade sanctions against a state).

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In civil cases the court may:

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- uphold [accept] the plaintif's claim on substance ie. [find in favour of the
plaintif] [find against the defendant]

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- or reject the plaintif's claim on substance ie. [find against the plaintif] [find in
favour of the defendant].

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In criminal cases, the prosecutor may withdraw a case from prosecution at any
time before the judgment.

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In civil cases, the plaintif may withdraw [abandon] his or her claim against the
defendant at any time before the judgment.

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The court does not withdraw cases, it only decides [rules on] them, after making
a full examination of the facts and law, hearing evidence and witnesses. It may
however dismiss an [action] [case], without making a finding on the substance,
and this [terminates] [stops] the court proceedings without a judgment. This can
happen if a case has passed the statute of limitations, or the parties are not
contactable or no longer alive, or the plaintif repeatedly fails to appear in court
or respond to court summons, or if a claim is inadmissible, or the court does not
have jurisdiction, or the parties are not entitled to bring the action, or if other
technicalities are not fulfilled which render the court proceedings meaningless or
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impossible. The court will also dismiss the action if the parties agree to an out-of-
court settlement, as the court action will no longer be necessary.

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Appeal

Either party in a court proceeding may lodge [make] an appeal against the
judgment of the first instance court, to a court of higher instance.

(a) From the point of view of the appellant's appeal

The appeal court [higher instance court] will either uphold [accept] the appeal or
reject [refuse] [dismiss] [deny] the appeal on the merits [substance].

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Alternatively the court may [disallow the appeal] [throw out the appeal] without
[considering] [examining] the merits [substance] of the case. It can [hold/find]
the appeal inadmissible, if it does not fulfil the necessary legal criteria such as
time limits or, in some jurisdictions, if the court considers the appeal to be
[frivolous] [groundless] [vexatious] - in other words, if the court considers that
the party is not serious or wasting the court's time.

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In some types of cases, the court must first grant leave to appeal, meaning that
the appellant has to first apply for permission to appeal and then formally submit
the appeal. Or, the court may deny a request for judicial review.
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(b) From the point of view of the judgment which is under appeal

The appeal court [higher instance court] can either:

- uphold [confirm] [affirm] [verify] the judgment of the first instance [lower
instance] court

- or overturn [quash] [overrule] [reverse] [set aside] [annul] [abolish] [repeal]

[reject] the judgment of the first instance [lower instance] court,

- or it may [modify] [alter] [change][amend] the sentence to a lighter or heavier

one.

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For reporting purposes, to avoid confusion the focus should be (b) from
the point of view of the judgment under appeal (ie. whether it was upheld
or overturned or modified), not whether the appellant's appeal was upheld or
rejected - because an appeal can be lodged by either one of the parties (and it is
not always clear which one appealed!) while the court is always constant.

If the judgment is overturned, the higher court may either replace it with a
judgment of its own (if it is competent to decide on both the facts and law) or, if it
acts as a court of cassation, it may return [remit] the case back to the lower
instance for retrial (in criminal cases) or re-examination of the facts (in civil
cases).

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Proceedings

Court proceedings is the general term for a court action and includes everything
from the lodging of the claim/ indictment, to the scheduling of hearings in the
court, examination of evidence, calling of witnesses and experts, appeals,
execution of judgments etc.

Court procedure is the rules of conduct of the court action, including conduct of
the parties in the court room, setting of legal deadlines, levels of fees, fines and
sentences, forms, rules for delivery of documents, etc (usually this is set out in
detail in a criminal and civil procedure code respectively, and in the rules of
court).

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While court proceedings are still ongoing, the judgment is said to be pending
[awaited]. After a judgment has been rendered by the court, there is usually a
time limit for appeals, and only after that period expires (and there is no more
possibility of any type of appeal) the judgment becomes [final][enforceable]
[efective].

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A case or an investigation is opened and closed. Proceedings are started and

finished.

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Court proceedings are presided over by one or more judges [magistrates]. If
there are several, they sit in a panel [council]. Panels can also include lay-judges
who are not jurists (ie. not legally qualified). Some countries use a jury made up
of citizens.

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Ordinary civil and criminal cases are heard by courts [tribunals]. Tribunals are
usually specialised courts dealing with specific issues eg. labour law, patent law,
military law, and are not always governed by the same rules of procedure and
parties' rights. They should therefore be clearly distinguished from the ordinary
court system. Magistrates (in the English language) are not judges, but rather
administrators who have limited powers to impose administrative or
misdemeanour penalties, or lay-judges who hear cases of minor civil or criminal
cases. To avoid confusion, this term should therefore be avoided when speaking
of judges.

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In civil cases, the [enforcement] [execution] [implementation] of court judgments

may be carried out by an [enforcement agent] [bailif] [enforcer].

Sentencing and prisons

A suspended sentence [conditional sentence] means that the convicted person

does not have to serve their prison sentence, but does have to abide by certain
conditions which, if breached, will lead to the imposition of the prison sentence. A
commuted sentence means that the penalty is reduced but the conviction
remains. Parole [license] is early release from prison under similar conditions to a
suspended sentence, with re-imprisonment as a consequence of breaching the
conditions. A convicted person who either does not have to serve their sentence
in prison or is released early from prison, subject to conditions, is on probation.
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A person who has been arrested for and/or charged with a criminal ofence, but
has not yet been tried or convicted may be placed in/ under detention [on
remand] [in custody] [remanded in custody]. Persons who are in pre-trial
detention are innocent (until proven guilty). Persons who are in prison have
already been [convicted] [found guilty].

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If a person who is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment has already spent

time in pre-trial detention, this "time served" can in some jurisdictions be
counted towards [credited towards] [deducted from] [ofset against] [extinguish]
their prison sentence.

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In the English language, a misdemeanour is a minor wrong-doing but it is not a

legal term. Only in the US legal system, criminal ofences are divided into minor
ofences (misdemeanours) and serious ofences (felonies). Given that several
Enlargement countries have a specific system of misdemeanours, similar to the
US system, we exceptionally use this term in our reporting but you should be
aware that it is technically not correct and is often questioned by the linguistic
proof-readers.

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Some other terms

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Judges are appointed [elected] to their posts: even if in practice they are
appointed following a vote by the members of the Judicial Council, for reporting
purposes we reserve the term election for election of members of parliament by
the citizens.

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Legislation is adopted [enacted] [promulgated] and can also be amended

[modified] [altered] or repealed [annulled] [abrogated] [abolished]. Legislation
may be used to abolish various concepts, such as the death penalty, criminal
defamation or child labour, but it is not itself abolished.

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Defamation is the general term for deliberate dissemination of damaging

untruths. The term encompasses both [slander] and [libel]. As these are very
specific to the English legal system (slander is spoken defamation, while libel is
written defamation) they should not be used in any reporting as they have no
meaning in other legal systems. Insult is not covered by defamation but is a
diferent legal concept, which is used in some countries including in the Western
Balkans. It can therefore be used in country-specific reporting, and should be
clearly diferentiated from defamation.

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(slander
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Fines are imposed by courts in criminal cases. Damages are awarded [granted]
by courts in civil cases.

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In corruption cases, a common ofence is abuse of office [misuse of office] or

misconduct in public office [unconscientious performance of official duties].

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Preferred term please use

[technically correct synonym - but please avoid using diferent terms for the
same thing]

[Incorrect please avoid]