Brought to trial generally refers to scheduling a legal case for a
hearing, or to bring a
defendant
In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case.
Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...
to
court. However, it has several different, ambiguous meanings and examples used in the law. To bring to trial may refer to bringing a defendant to court when the process is ongoing.
Political, war, and other infamous crimes
Most often, the terms brought to trial, bring to trial, brought to justice and bring to justice refer to the prosecution at
trial of alleged
war criminals and
political prisoners, as well as those accused of
treason or
misprision of treason,
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
, and other
infamous crimes.
Speedy trial
In some cases, the context of the term actually indicates a
speedy trial
In criminal law, the right to a speedy trial is a human right under which it is asserted that a government prosecutor may not delay the trial of a criminal suspect arbitrarily and indefinitely. Otherwise, the power to impose such delays would eff ...
issue, as guaranteed by the
Sixth Amendment to the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
.
Related terms
A number of related terms and meanings exist:
* "Arraign, litigate, lodge, bring a complaint, bring to view evidence, exhibit, manifest and bring together,
ndaccumulate."
* "Lawsuit, suit, suit in law, suit at law, litigation, prosecution, bring a case before the court or bar,
ndbring to justice."
* To "call to the bar, ... take silk, take to the law, bring to the bar, put on trial, pull up, accuse, ... file a claim,
ndinform against."
* When the
parties in a
mediation
Mediation is a structured, interactive process where an impartial third party neutral assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are ...
or
settlement conference can not come to an
alternate dispute resolution
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...
, the action is brought to trial.
In the United Kingdom
Schedule 1
of the
Interpretation Act 1978 defines:
“Sent for trial” means, in relation to England and Wales, sent by a magistrates' court to the Crown Court for trial pursuant to section 51 or 51A of the
Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brought To Trial
Legal procedure