Criminal procedure
Criminal investigation
Arrest warrant  · Search warrant
Probable cause  · Knock and announce
Exigent circumstance
Search and seizure  · Arrest
Right to silence  · Miranda warning (U.S.)
Grand jury
Criminal prosecution
Statute of limitations
Bill of attainder  · Ex post facto law
Criminal jurisdiction  · Extradition
Inquisitorial system  · Adversarial system
Arraignment  · Indictment
Nolo contendere  · Plea bargain
Rights of the accused
Right to a fair trial
Presumption of innocence
Jury trial  · Speedy trial
Habeas corpus  · Bail
Exclusionary rule (U.S.)
Self-incrimination  · Double jeopardy
Verdict and sentencing
Acquittal  · Conviction
Mandatory sentencing
Suspended sentence
Parole  · Probation
Tariff (UK)  · Life licence (UK)
Dangerous offender (Can.)
Cruel and unusual punishment
Capital punishment  · Execution warrant
Related areas of law
Criminal defenses
Criminal law  · Evidence
Civil procedure

In law, a conviction is the verdict which results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of committing a crime. Image File history File links Scale_of_justice. ... Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated the criminal law. ... An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a public officer which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual. ... A search warrant is a written warrant issued by a judge or magistrate which authorizes the police to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a criminal offense. ... In United States criminal law, probable cause refers to the standard by which a police officer may make an arrest, conduct a personal or property search or obtain a warrant. ... A knock and announce warrant, in the American law of criminal procedure, requires that the officer tasked with the responsibility of executing the warrant must knock on the door of the home to be entered for a search or arrest, and to announce their purpose. ... An exigent circumstance, in the American law of criminal procedure, allows law enforcement to enter a structure without a warrant, or if a they have a knock and announce warrant, without knocking and waiting for refusal under certain circumstances. ... I love this law whereby police, who suspect that a crime has been committed, do a search of a persons property and confiscate any relevant evidence to the crime. ... The Chicago Police Department arrests a man A protester is arrested during a demonstration. ... The right to silence is a legal protection enjoyed by people undergoing police interrogation or trial in certain countries. ... The Miranda warning is a police warning that must be given to criminal suspects in police custody in the United States before they can be asked questions relating to the commission of crimes. ... A grand jury is a type of common law jury responsible for investigating alleged crimes, examining evidence, and issuing indictments if they believe that there is enough evidence for a trial to proceed. ... Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated the criminal law. ... A statute of limitations is a statute in a common law legal system setting forth the maximum period of time, after certain events, that legal proceedings based on those events may begin. ... A bill of attainder (also known as an act or writ of attainder) was an act of legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime, and punishing them, without benefit of a trial. ... An ex post facto law (from the Latin for from something done afterward) or retroactive law (or retrospective law) is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences of acts committed or the legal status of facts and relationships that existed prior to the enactment of the law. ... Criminal jurisdiction is a term used in the law of criminal procedure to describe the power of a court to hear a case brought by the state accusing a criminal defendant of a violation of the law of the geographic area in which the court is located. ... Extradition is a formal process by which a criminal suspect held by one government is handed over to another government for trial or, if the suspect has already been tried and found guilty, to serve his or her sentence. ... An inquisitorial system is a legal system where the court or a part of the court is actively involved in determining the facts of the case, as opposed to an adversarial system where the role of the court is solely that of an impartial referee between parties. ... The adversarial system (or adversary system) of law is the system of law, generally adopted in common law countries, that relies on the skill of the different advocates representing their partys positions and not on some neutral party, usually the judge, trying to ascertain the truth of the case. ... Arraignment is a common law term for the formal reading of a criminal complaint, in the presence of the defendant, to inform him of the charges against him. ... In the common law legal system, an indictment is a formal charge of having committed a serious criminal offence. ... In both criminal and civil trials in the United States, a plea of nolo contendere means that the defendant neither admits nor disputes the charge. ... A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case in which a prosecutor and a defendant arrange to settle the case against the defendant. ... Headline text The rights of the accused is a class of rights in that apply to a person in the time period between when they are formally accused of a crime and when they are either convicted or acquitted. ... The Right to a fair trial is an essential right in all countries respecting the rule of law. ... Presumption of innocence is a legal right that the accused enjoys in criminal trials in many modern nations. ... A jury trial is a trial in which the judge of the facts, as opposed to the judge of the law, is a jury, made up of citizens who are usually randomly selected and are generally not legal professionals. ... In criminal law, the right to a speedy trial can be used as either a procedural defense or a substantive defense in which a defendant argues that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law, because the prosecuting attorney failed to bring the case to... For alternative meanings of habeas corpus, see habeas corpus (disambiguation). ... Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court in order to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail (skipping bail, or jumping bail, is also illegal). ... In United States constitutional law, the exclusionary rule is a legal principle holding that evidence collected or analyzed in violation of the U.S. Constitution is not admissible for a criminal prosecution in a court of law (that is, it cannot be used in a criminal trial). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Right to silence. ... Double jeopardy (also called autrefois acquit meaning already acquitted) is a procedural defense (and, in many countries such as the United States, Canada and India, a constitutional right) that forbids a defendant from being tried a second time for a crime, after having already been tried for the same crime. ... In law, a verdict indicates the judgment of a case before a court of law. ... In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ... In criminal law, an acquittal is the legal result of a verdict of not guilty, or some similar end of the proceeding that terminates it with prejudice without a verdict of guilty being entered against the accused. ... A mandatory sentence is a judicial decision setting the punishment to be inflicted on a person convicted of a crime where judicial discretion is limited by law. ... A suspended sentence is a legal construct. ... Parole can have different meanings depending on the context. ... Probation is the suspension of a prison or jail sentence - the criminal who is on probation has been convicted of a crime, but instead of serving prison time, has been found by the Court to be amenable to probation and will be returned to the community for a period in... Under British criminal law, a tariff is the minimum period that a person serving an indefinite prison sentence must serve before that person becomes eligible for parole. ... Life licence is a term used in the British criminal justice system for the conditions under which a prisoner sentenced to life in jail may be released. ... In the Canadian legal system, the Dangerous Offender designation allows the courts to impose an indefinite sentence on a convicted person, regardless of whether the crime carries a life sentence or not. ... The statement that the government shall not inflict cruel and unusual punishment for crimes is found in the English Bill of Rights signed in 1689 by William of Orange and Queen Mary II who were then the joint rulers of England following the Glorious Revolution of 1688. ... // Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is governmental killing by execution as punishment for a crime often called a capital offense or a capital crime. ... An execution warrant is a warrant which authorizes the execution or capital punishment of an individual. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of common law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. ... The law of evidence governs the use of testimony (e. ... Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the process that courts will follow when hearing cases of a civil nature (a civil action). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced, what kind of service of process is required, the types of pleadings or... Law (from the late Old English lagu of probable North Germanic origin) in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, intended to provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide... In law, a verdict indicates the judgment of a case before a court of law. ... A court is an official, public forum which a sovereign establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ... A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute. ... Guilt is primarily an emotion experienced by people who believe they have done something wrong. ...

The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (eg. "not guilty"), or (in Scotland only) a verdict of Not Proven. In criminal law, an acquittal is the legal result of a verdict of not guilty, or some similar end of the proceeding that terminates it with prejudice without a verdict of guilty being entered against the accused. ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Not Proven is a verdict available to a court in Scotland. ...

For a host of reasons the criminal justice system is not perfect and sometimes guilty defendants will be acquitted while innocent defendants are convicted. Appeal mechanisms mitigate this problem to some extent. An error that results in the conviction of an innocent person is a miscarriage of justice. The study of criminal justice traditionally revolves around three main components of the criminal justice system: police, courts, corrections. ... An appeal is the act or fact of challenging a judicially cognizable and binding judgment to a higher judicial authority. ... A miscarriage of justice is primarily the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime that they did not commit. ...

After a defendant is convicted, the court will determine the appropriate sentence by way of punishment. Further, the conviction itself may lead to results beyond the terms of the sentence, such as a loss of federal education loans in the case of a drug felony. Such ramifications are known as the collateral consequences of criminal charges. In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ... Punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant on a subject as a response to some unwanted behavior or disobedience that the subject has displayed. ... In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ... Collateral consequences of criminal charges are the results of arrest, prosecution or conviction that are not part of the sentence imposed. ...