In
lawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
, a
conviction is the
verdictIn law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a...
that results when a court of law finds a
defendantA 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....
guiltIn criminal law, guilt is entirely externally defined by the state, or more generally a “court of law.” Being “guilty” of a criminal offense means that one has committed a violation of criminal law, or performed all the elements of the offense set out by a criminal statute...
y of a
crimeCrime is the breach of one or more rules or laws for which some governing authority, via mechanisms such as police power, may ultimately prescribe a conviction...
.
The opposite of a conviction is an
acquittalIn the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the innocence of the accused, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
(i.e. "not guilty"). In
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
, there can also be a verdict of "
not provenNot proven is a verdict available to a court in Scotland.Under Scots law, a criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts: one of conviction and two of acquittal . Historically, the two verdicts available to Scots juries were that the case had been "proven" or "not proven"...
", which counts as an acquittal.
For a host of reasons, the
criminal justiceCriminal justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, and sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts....
system is not perfect, and sometimes guilty defendants are acquitted, while innocent people are convicted.
It is no certain evidence, that because the conscience feels the weight of sin, the heart is humbled on account of it; that because the conscience approves of the rectitude of the Divine justice, the heart bows to the Divine sovereignty. The most powerful conviction of sin, therefore, is not conclusive evidence of Christian character.
Gardiner Spring, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 165.
To remember that once we were near the salvation of Christ, so near that our right hand might have touched and taken it, and after all that hand was withheld; this is a memory which will enhance remorse forever.
William Adams, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 165.
In
lawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
, a
conviction is the
verdictIn law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a...
that results when a court of law finds a
defendantA 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....
guiltIn criminal law, guilt is entirely externally defined by the state, or more generally a “court of law.” Being “guilty” of a criminal offense means that one has committed a violation of criminal law, or performed all the elements of the offense set out by a criminal statute...
y of a
crimeCrime is the breach of one or more rules or laws for which some governing authority, via mechanisms such as police power, may ultimately prescribe a conviction...
.
The opposite of a conviction is an
acquittalIn the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the innocence of the accused, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
(i.e. "not guilty"). In
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
, there can also be a verdict of "
not provenNot proven is a verdict available to a court in Scotland.Under Scots law, a criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts: one of conviction and two of acquittal . Historically, the two verdicts available to Scots juries were that the case had been "proven" or "not proven"...
", which counts as an acquittal.
For a host of reasons, the
criminal justiceCriminal justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, and sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts....
system is not perfect, and sometimes guilty defendants are acquitted, while innocent people are convicted.
AppealIn law, an appeal is a process for requesting a formal change to an official decision.The specific procedures for appealing, including even whether there is a right of appeal from a particular type of decision, can vary greatly from country to country...
mechanisms mitigate this problem to some extent. An error which results in the conviction of an innocent person is known as a
miscarriage of justiceA miscarriage of justice primarily is the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime he or she did not commit. The term can also apply to errors in the other direction—"errors of impunity", and to civil case. Most criminal justice systems have some means to overturn, or "quash", a...
.
After a defendant is convicted, the court determines the appropriate
sentenceIn law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. The sentence generally involves a decree of imprisonment, a fine and/or other punishments against a defendant convicted of a crime...
as a
punishmentPunishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant or aversive on a person or animal, usually in response to disobedience, defiance, or behavior deemed morally wrong by individual, governmental, or religious principles.-Etymology:...
. Furthermore, the conviction may lead to results beyond the terms of the sentence itself. Such ramifications are known as the
collateral consequences of criminal chargesCollateral consequences of criminal charges, known as the "Four C's" in legal parlance , are the results of arrest, prosecution or conviction that are not part of the sentence imposed....
.
A
minor conviction is considered, in a term, a warning conviction, and it doesn't affect the defendant, but does serve as a warning.
An accused's history of convictions are called
antecedentAntecedents are the life history and previous convictions of a defendant in a criminal case. They are colloquially known as "previous convictions" in the U.K. and "prior convictions" in the United States and Australia.When a defendant is being sentenced for a crime, the court will be told his or...
s, known colloquially as "previous" in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, and "priors" in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
.