Okuzeka
Criminal Law & Justice vocabulary · Charges & the Pre-Trial Stage

Charge

Meaning in criminal law & justice, with examples

/tʃɑːdʒ/verbCore term

In criminal law & justice, charge means: To formally accuse someone of a particular crime so that the case can go to court; as a noun, a charge is the formal accusation itself.

In Turkish: suçlamak, itham etmek, suçlama, hakkında dava açmak

How it is used

The pattern is 'charge someone with an offence': 'She was charged with fraud'. As a noun: 'face charges', 'bring charges', 'deny the charges', 'the charges were dropped'. In England and Wales the police or the Crown Prosecution Service decide whether to charge.

Example sentences

  1. He was charged with assault and will appear in court next week.

  2. She denies all the charges against her.

  3. Police released the man without charge after twelve hours.

Common collocations

  • charge someone with
  • face charges
  • bring charges
  • deny the charges
  • released without charge
  • indictmentA formal written accusation that a person has committed one or more serious crimes, which starts the case against them in a criminal court.
  • drop the chargesTo decide officially not to continue with a criminal case against someone, so that they no longer face the accusation.
  • press chargesTo make a formal complaint against someone so that they can be charged with a crime; used mainly about victims.
  • suspectA person whom the police believe may have committed a crime but who has not yet been charged or found guilty.
  • prosecutorA lawyer who works for the state and brings criminal cases to court, trying to prove that the defendant is guilty.

More terms: Charges & the Pre-Trial Stage

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not legal advice.