Criminal Law Terms
Fundamental terms in criminal law.
Core terms of criminal law and procedure: felony and misdemeanor, mens rea and actus reus, burden and standard of proof, and plea bargains, plus arraignment, indictment, bail, probable cause, Miranda warnings, habeas corpus, double jeopardy and sentencing terms.
Use it when
- You need a precise definition of a criminal-law or procedure term.
- You are reading news or court documents that use these terms.
Watch out for
- Terms and procedures vary by country and by US state; the entries describe common usage, mostly from the US and common-law systems.
- Not every legal system distinguishes felonies from misdemeanors.
The data
21 rows
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Felony | Serious crime typically punishable by more than one year. |
| Misdemeanor | Less serious offense with lighter penalties. |
| Mens Rea | Mental state or intent behind a crime. |
| Actus Reus | The physical act or unlawful omission. |
| Burden of Proof | Obligation to prove allegations. |
| Beyond Reasonable Doubt | High standard of proof required in criminal cases. |
| Plea Bargain | Agreement between prosecutor and defendant to resolve a case. |
| Arraignment | A hearing at which the accused is told of the charges and enters a plea. |
| Indictment | A formal accusation by a grand jury that there is enough evidence to bring a person to trial. |
| Bail | Money or other security that allows an accused person to be released while awaiting trial. |
| Probable Cause | A reasonable basis to believe a crime was committed, required for arrests and warrants. |
| Miranda Warning | In the US, the notice of the right to remain silent and to counsel given before custodial interrogation. |
| Habeas Corpus | A court order requiring that a detained person be brought before a judge to test whether the detention is lawful. |
| Double Jeopardy | The principle that a person cannot be tried twice for the same offense after an acquittal or conviction. |
| Acquittal | A finding that the accused is not guilty of the charge. |
| Statute of Limitations | A time limit after which charges can no longer be brought for an offense. |
| Probation | A sentence served in the community under supervision instead of in prison. |
| Parole | Conditional early release from prison with supervision. |
| Entrapment | A defense claiming that law enforcement induced a person to commit a crime they would not otherwise have committed. |
| Accomplice | A person who knowingly helps another commit a crime. |
| Recidivism | A relapse into criminal behavior after punishment or treatment. |
Fields
The shape of this dataset, read from the data itself: every column, its type and a real value. Agents can use this to plan a query without fetching the whole document.
| Section | Field | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| data | term | string | Felony |
| data | description | string | Serious crime typically punishable by more than… |
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