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

Indictment

Meaning in criminal law & justice, with examples

/ɪnˈdaɪtmənt/nounCommon term

In criminal law & justice, indictment means: A formal written accusation that a person has committed one or more serious crimes, which starts the case against them in a criminal court.

In Turkish: iddianame, kamu davası

How it is used

In the US, a 'grand jury' returns an indictment for serious federal crimes; in England and Wales the most serious cases are 'tried on indictment' in the Crown Court. Each separate charge in it is a 'count'. The verb is 'indict' ('he was indicted on fraud charges').

Example sentences

  1. The indictment lists twelve counts of fraud.

  2. Prosecutors are preparing an indictment against the company's former directors.

  3. The court accepted the indictment, and the first hearing was set for May.

Common collocations

  • prepare an indictment
  • return an indictment
  • be indicted on charges
  • counts in the indictment
  • chargeTo 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.
  • prosecutorA lawyer who works for the state and brings criminal cases to court, trying to prove that the defendant is guilty.
  • trialThe formal process in court in which evidence is presented and a judge or jury decides whether the defendant is guilty of the charges.
  • prosecutionThe process of bringing a criminal case against someone in court; 'the prosecution' also means the lawyers who present the case against the defendant.

More terms: Charges & the Pre-Trial Stage

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