In
law, a conviction is the
verdict reached by a
court of law finding 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 jurisd ...
guilty of a
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...
.
The opposite of a conviction is an
acquittal
In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...
(that is, "not guilty"). In
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, there can also be a verdict of "
not proven", which is considered an acquittal. Sometimes, despite a defendant being found guilty, the court may order that the defendant not be convicted. This is known as a
discharge
Discharge may refer to
Expel or let go
* Discharge, the act of firing a gun
* Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer
* Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from ser ...
and is used in countries such as England, Wales, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
The
criminal justice system is not perfect and there are instances in which guilty defendants are acquitted and innocent people are convicted.
Appeal mechanisms and
post conviction relief procedures may help to address this issue to some extent. An error leading to the conviction of an innocent person is known as a
miscarriage of justice.
After a defendant is convicted, the court determines the appropriate
sentence as a
punishment. In addition to the sentence, a conviction can also have other consequences, known as
collateral consequences of criminal charges. These can include impacts on employment, housing, and other areas of an individual's life.
A minor conviction is a warning conviction that does not affect the defendant but serves as a warning.
A person's history of convictions is known as their
antecedents or "previous" in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
and "priors" in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
.
See also
*
Convict
*
Verdict
References
{{Authority control
Common law legal terminology
Criminal law legal terminology
Criminal law