Criminal Law Vocabulary: English Legal Terms

defraud verbC1

To illegally obtain money or property from someone by deception.

The pair were convicted of conspiring to defraud the insurance company.

extort verbC1

To obtain something, especially money, by force, threats, or intimidation.

The gang extorted protection money from shopkeepers along the high street.

admonition nounC1

A judicial warning or reproof, sometimes given in place of a formal penalty.

The sheriff dismissed the accused with an admonition, taking a lenient view of the lapse.

antecedents nounC1

A defendant's previous convictions and personal history, presented to the court before sentencing.

Counsel outlined his antecedents, noting a string of earlier convictions for dishonesty.

asphyxiation nounC1

Death or loss of consciousness caused by a lack of oxygen.

The post-mortem recorded asphyxiation as the cause of death.

commutation nounC2

The substitution of a lesser penalty for the one originally imposed.

The commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment followed a successful appeal for mercy.

compounding nounC1

The offence of accepting consideration in return for not disclosing or prosecuting a crime.

By taking money to keep silent about the theft, she laid herself open to a charge of compounding an offence.

compulsion nounC2

Irresistible pressure or coercion sometimes raised to negate the voluntariness of a criminal act.

He claimed he had acted under compulsion, driven by threats made against his family.

concurrence nounC1

The requirement that the guilty act and the guilty mind coincide in time.

Without concurrence of act and intent, the later resolve could not convert the accident into assault.

conspirator nounC1

A person who takes part in a secret agreement to commit a crime.

Each conspirator was liable even though only one of them had planted the device.

contraband nounC1

Goods imported, exported, or possessed illegally.

Prison officers found mobile phones and other contraband hidden in the laundry room.

corroboration nounC1

Independent evidence that supports and strengthens other evidence in a case.

The child's account required corroboration before the jury could safely convict.

criminality nounC1

The state of being criminal, or criminal behaviour collectively.

The prosecution relied on a pattern of criminality stretching back a decade.

custodial interrogation nounC1

Questioning of a suspect who is in custody and not free to leave.

Because it was custodial interrogation, anything he said before the warnings gets thrown out.

custodial sentence nounC1

A sentence that requires the offender to be detained in prison.

The judge imposed a custodial sentence of four years for the aggravated burglary.

diminished responsibility nounC1

A partial defence to murder that reduces liability to manslaughter where an abnormality of mental functioning substantially impaired the defendant.

The plea of diminished responsibility succeeded, and the murder charge was reduced to manslaughter.

duplicity nounC2

Deceitfulness in speech or conduct.

The court heard how his duplicity had fooled even his closest business partners.

dying declaration nounC1

A statement about the cause of one's impending death, admissible despite the hearsay rule.

Her whispered dying declaration naming the shooter came in over a hearsay objection.

felon nounC1

A person who has been convicted of a serious crime.

As a convicted felon, he was barred from owning a firearm.

hooliganism nounC1

Violent or rowdy behaviour by groups, especially in public places.

Football banning orders were introduced to curb hooliganism at international matches.

inchoate offence nounC2

A crime of preparation or agreement complete before any substantive harm occurs.

Although the device never detonated, the conspiracy remained a punishable inchoate offence.

indecency nounC1

Behaviour that offends against accepted standards of sexual morality or propriety.

He was charged with gross indecency following an incident in the park.

internment nounC1

The detention of people without trial, usually for political or security reasons.

The policy of internment was widely seen as fuelling the conflict it aimed to suppress.

jury nullification nounC1

A jury's acquittal against the evidence because it rejects the law or its application.

Defense counsel cannot openly argue for jury nullification, but the theme hummed under every closing line.

leniency nounC1

Mildness or tolerance in imposing punishment.

The prosecution appealed, complaining that the sentence showed undue leniency.

lynching nounC1

The killing of a person by a mob, without lawful trial, for an alleged offence.

Historians documented thousands of lynchings that went entirely unpunished.

mens rea nounC1

The guilty state of mind required for a crime.

Without mens rea, the act was not an offence.

racketeering nounC1

The operation of an organised illegal business, typically involving extortion or fraud.

The crime boss was finally convicted of racketeering after a three-year investigation.

recidivism nounC2

The tendency of a convict to reoffend.

Rehabilitation programmes cut recidivism.

ringleader nounC1

A person who leads others in an illegal or disruptive activity.

The ringleader received the longest sentence for organising the fraud network.

rustling nounC1

The theft of livestock such as cattle, sheep, or horses.

Rural police reported a sharp rise in sheep rustling across the uplands.

sedition nounC1

Conduct or speech inciting rebellion against the authority of the state or sovereign.

The pamphleteer was prosecuted for sedition after urging soldiers to disobey their orders.

totality nounC1

The sentencing principle that the overall penalty for several offences must be just and proportionate as a whole.

Applying the principle of totality, the court ordered the terms to run concurrently.

uttering nounC2

The offence of knowingly passing off a forged or counterfeit instrument as genuine.

Forging the cheque was one offence; uttering it at the bank counter was another.

complicit adjectiveC1

Involved with others in an unlawful or wrongful act.

The bank manager was found to be complicit in the scheme to defraud investors.

demonstrative adjectiveC1

Denoting evidence, such as models or diagrams, used to illustrate testimony.

The prosecution used demonstrative exhibits to walk the jury through the layout of the scene.

draconian adjectiveC1

Excessively harsh or severe, especially of laws or penalties.

Civil liberties groups condemned the draconian penalties for minor protest offences.

extenuating adjectiveC1

Serving to lessen the seriousness of an offence or the blame attached to it.

The judge accepted there were extenuating circumstances, as the defendant had been caring for a dying parent.

premeditated adjectiveC1

Planned or thought out in advance.

Evidence that he had bought the weapon days earlier showed the attack was premeditated.

return a verdict phraseC1

For a jury to deliver its formal decision on whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty.

After two days of deliberation the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty.