The Australian judicial system is rife with extremely specialised terminology that many people could possibly have trouble understanding. Then when you, or someone in your area has become faced with a criminal charge, it’s imperative that you see the legal terminology that is more likely to come up in legal documents and within a trial. Here we’ve provided a summary of some of the more confusing terms and definitions often found in the Australian criminal justice system.


Acquittal:
This term is utilized once the magistrate, jury or appeal court discover that an individual is innocent from the charges against him/her.
Affidavit:
A written declaration made under oath before a notary public or other authorised officer. The one who has written the declaration claims that the contents are, to the best of their knowledge, true.
Appeal:
To produce an appeal is usually to take a case to some higher court so that you can challenge a decision made by a lower court or tribunal. For example, an appeal from a decision from the Federal Circuit Court of Australia may be designed to the government Court. The one who appeals is recognized as the ‘appellant’. However, it is worth noting that doesn’t all decisions might be appealed.
Committal Hearing:
This is a hearing of all the evidence that props up charge within the lower court by way of a magistrate who decides if there is sufficient evidence for the case to attend trial. In most committal hearings, there could be witnesses who are required to provide evidence.
Complainant:
This can be the saying used in the courtroom to refer to the victim from the crime committed.
Defendant:
This can be the saying used in the courtroom to refer to the person who has been involved in an offence. This term is interchangeable with ‘the accused’.
Deposition:
This is a typed copy from the evidence recorded in the courtroom.
Exhibits:
All evidence (apart from evidence provided by the witnesses) required to present the truth to the court, including photographs, clothing, documents or another items that may be relevant to the truth.

Indictable Offence:
A serious Brisbane lawyer that is commonly heard in a higher court before the court and a jury. Less serious indictable offences, termed as summary offences, are usually heard in a Local Court.
Indictment:
This is a formal written accusation charging having it . an offence that is intended to be tried in a higher court.
Jurisdiction:
This can be the extent of legal authority/power from the Court to utilize regulations. For example, in Australia the government Court has jurisdiction under greater than 150 Acts from the Commonwealth Parliament.
Mediation:
This is a process whereby an impartial third party, referred to as mediator, assists with bringing about a compromise or agreed settlement without requiring your decision of your Court.
Plaintiff:
This can be the saying used to refer to the person or party who initiates a civil action. Quite simply, here is the person or party who brings an instance contrary to the defendant, and seeks punishment for the person or those who committed the crime.
Plea:
This is when the accused person (the defendant) tells a legal court whether are guilty or otherwise not responsible for the charge against them. If the accused pleads guilty, a trial will not take place as well as the case proceeds to some sentencing hearing, which determines the punishment for the crime.
Subpoena:
A subpoena compels the look of a person at the trial so that you can testify and/or produce documents. This is a court ruling, if it is disobeyed, the disobedient person could be in contempt of court.
Voir Dire:
This is a legal argument concerning the admissibility of your certain part of evidence in the courtroom. In the event that this argument should occur, the witness as well as the jury are sent out of court until it finishes.

In case you have any queries regarding a criminal charge in Brisbane, please don’t hesitate to get hold of us. Only at Guest Lawyers, we specialize in criminal law and will be more than pleased that will help you with any queries or concerns. Goal to supply honest, respectful and simple to understand legal counsel so that you can slow up the stress related to your litigation.
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