Knowing Brisbane Criminal Law Terms

The Australian legislation is rife with extremely specialised terminology that most people may have trouble understanding. So when you, or someone in your area has become facing a criminal charge, it’s crucial that you understand the legal terminology that’s planning to come up in legal documents and within a trial. Here we’ve provided a summary of a number of the more confusing terms and definitions often employed in the Australian criminal justice system.

Acquittal:
This term can be used in the event the magistrate, jury or appeal court discover that an individual is not liable with the charges against him/her.
Affidavit:
An itemized declaration made under oath before a notary public or any other authorised officer. The individual that has written the declaration claims that the contents are, towards the best of their knowledge, true.
Appeal:
To produce an appeal is always to please take a case to some higher court in order to challenge a conclusion manufactured by a reduced court or tribunal. As an example, an appeal coming from a decision with the Federal Circuit Court of Australia could be designed to the government Court. The one that appeals is known as the ‘appellant’. However, it really is important to note that all decisions can be appealed.
Committal Hearing:
It is a hearing of all the evidence that supports the charge within the lower court with a magistrate who decides if there is sufficient evidence to the case to venture to trial. In certain committal hearings, there could be witnesses who will be forced to provide evidence.
Complainant:
This is the expression used in the court to refer to the victim with the crime committed.
Defendant:
This is the expression used in the court to refer to the individual that has arrested for a criminal offence. This term is interchangeable with ‘the accused’.
Deposition:
It is a typed copy with the evidence recorded in the court.
Exhibits:
All evidence (apart from evidence given by the witnesses) forced to present the situation towards the court, including photographs, clothing, documents or other items that could be relevant to the situation.

Indictable Offence:
A serious Brisbane lawyers that’s commonly heard in a higher court before a judge as well as a jury. Less serious indictable offences, called summary offences, usually are heard in a Local Court.
Indictment:
It is a formal written accusation charging you aren’t an offence that’s supposed to have been tried in a higher court.
Jurisdiction:
This is the extent of legal authority/power with the Court to use regulations. As an example, in Australia the government Court has jurisdiction under greater than 150 Acts with the Commonwealth Parliament.
Mediation:
It is a process whereby an impartial alternative party, known as the mediator, assists with bringing about an agreement or agreed settlement without requiring your decision of a Court.
Plaintiff:
This is the expression used to refer to the person or party who initiates a civil action. In other words, here is the person or party who brings a case up against the defendant, and seeks punishment to the person or people that committed the crime.
Plea:
This is how the accused person (the defendant) tells legal court whether or not they are guilty you aren’t responsible for the charge against them. If the accused pleads guilty, an endeavor will not happen as well as the case proceeds to some sentencing hearing, which determines the punishment to the crime.
Subpoena:
A subpoena compels the look of somebody with a trial in order to testify and/or produce documents. It is a court ruling, and if it really is disobeyed, the disobedient person may be in contempt of court.
Voir Dire:
It is a legal argument concerning the admissibility of a certain bit of evidence in the court. If this argument should occur, the witness as well as the jury are sent of court until it finishes.

If you have any queries regarding a criminal charge in Brisbane, please don’t hesitate to call us. Here at Guest Lawyers, we concentrate on criminal law and could be more than happy to assist you with any queries or concerns. Goal to provide honest, respectful and easy to know legal services in order to slow up the stress connected with your litigation.
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