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Criminal Law & Justice vocabulary · Defence & Prosecution

Defence

Meaning in criminal law & justice, with examples

/dɪˈfens/nounCore term

In criminal law & justice, defence means: The side in a criminal trial that represents the defendant; also a legal reason that can free a defendant from liability, such as self-defence.

In Turkish: savunma, savunma tarafı, müdafaa

How it is used

With 'the' for the side in court: 'the defence argued', 'a defence witness', 'defence counsel'. Without 'the' for a legal argument: 'raise a defence', 'a defence of duress', 'his only defence was that he did not know'.

Example sentences

  1. The defence will present its case after the lunch break.

  2. Her lawyer said the defence had not seen the new evidence.

  3. Not knowing the rule is not usually a defence to this offence.

Common collocations

  • the defence
  • defence counsel
  • defence witness
  • raise a defence
  • defence case
  • defence lawyerA lawyer who represents a suspect or defendant, protects their rights and argues their side of the case against the prosecution.
  • prosecutionThe process of bringing a criminal case against someone in court; 'the prosecution' also means the lawyers who present the case against the defendant.
  • self-defenceThe legal right to use reasonable force to protect yourself or another person from an attack; it can be a complete defence to a criminal charge.
  • alibiEvidence or a claim that a person was somewhere else when the crime happened, so they could not have committed it.

More terms: Defence & Prosecution

Practise with graded reading

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