Understanding Brisbane Criminal Law Terminology

The Australian legal system is rife with extremely specialised terminology that a majority of people may have trouble understanding. While you, or someone in the area may be confronted with a criminal charge, it’s imperative that you see the legal terminology that’s planning to come up in legal documents and within a trial. Here we’ve provided a directory of a few of the more confusing terms and definitions often found in the Australian criminal justice system.


Acquittal:
This term is employed once the magistrate, jury or appeal court discover that a person is simple with the charges against him/her.
Affidavit:
An itemized declaration made under oath before a notary public or another authorised officer. The individual who has written the declaration claims that the contents are, on the better of their knowledge, true.
Appeal:
To produce an appeal is to take a case to some higher court so that you can challenge a decision made by less court or tribunal. For example, an appeal from the decision with the Federal Circuit Court of Australia could possibly be designed to the federal government Court. The one who appeals is recognized as the ‘appellant’. However, it really is important to note that not all decisions could be appealed.
Committal Hearing:
This is a hearing of all of the evidence that sports ths charge from the lower court with a magistrate who decides if you have sufficient evidence for that case to visit trial. In certain committal hearings, there may be witnesses who’re necessary to provide evidence.
Complainant:
This can be the expression used in the court to refer to the victim with the crime committed.
Defendant:
This can be the expression used in the court to refer to the one who has arrested for an offence. This term is interchangeable with ‘the accused’.
Deposition:
This is a typed copy with the evidence recorded in the court.
Exhibits:
All evidence (in addition to evidence provided by the witnesses) necessary to present the truth on the court, like photographs, clothing, documents or another items which could possibly be tightly related to the truth.

Indictable Offence:
A significant Criminal lawyers Brisbane that’s commonly heard inside a higher court before the court along with a jury. Less serious indictable offences, known as summary offences, usually are heard inside a Local Court.
Indictment:
This is a formal written accusation charging having it . an offence that’s should have been tried inside a higher court.
Jurisdiction:
This can be the extent of legal authority/power with the Court to apply regulations. For example, australia wide the federal government Court has jurisdiction under greater than 150 Acts with the Commonwealth Parliament.
Mediation:
This is a process whereby a neutral vacation, referred to as the mediator, assists with leading to an agreement or agreed settlement without requiring your choice of the Court.
Plaintiff:
This can be the expression used to refer to the person or party who initiates a civil action. Quite simply, this can be the person or party who brings a case from the defendant, and seeks punishment for that person or those who committed the crime.
Plea:
This is how the accused person (the defendant) tells the judge whether are guilty or otherwise doing the charge against them. If your accused pleads guilty, a shot will not occur along with the case proceeds to some sentencing hearing, which determines the punishment for that crime.
Subpoena:
A subpoena compels the look off a person in a trial so that you can testify and/or produce documents. This is a court ruling, of course, if it really is disobeyed, the disobedient person could possibly be in contempt of court.
Voir Dire:
This is a legal argument about the admissibility of the certain piece of evidence in the court. In the event that this argument should take place, the witness along with the jury are sent out of court until it finishes.

For those who have inquiries regarding a criminal charge in Brisbane, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Only at Guest Lawyers, we focus on criminal law and can be more than happy to help you with inquiries or concerns. The purpose to supply honest, respectful as well as simple to be aware of legal services so that you can slow up the stress associated with your litigation.
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