Trial (law)
In legal parlance, a
trial is an event in which parties to a dispute present information (in the form of
evidence) in a formal setting, usually a
court, before a
judge,
jury, or other designated finder of fact, in order to achieve a resolution to their dispute.
Where the trial is held solely before a judge, it is called a
bench trial. Where the trial is held before a group of disinterested members of the community, it is called a
jury trial. Bench trials involve fewer formalities, and are typically resolved faster. Furthermore, a favorable ruling for one party in a bench trial will frequently lead the other party to offer a
settlement.
Hearings before administrative bodies may have many of the features of a trial before a court, but are typically not referred to as trials. An
appellate proceeding is also generally not deemed a trial, because such proceedings are usually restricted to review of the evidence presented before the
trial court, and do not permit the introduction of new evidence.
Trials can also be divided by the type of dispute at issue. A
criminal trial is designed to resolve accusations brought by the government against a person accused of a
crime. In
common law systems, most criminal trials are held before a jury. A
civil trial is generally held to settle a dispute between private parties (although the government can both sue and be sued in a civil capacity). Because the state is attempting to use its power to deprive the accused of life, liberty, or property, criminal defendants are afforded greater leeway to defend themselves than parties to a civil suit.
Some other kinds of processes for resolving conflicts are also expressed as trials. For example, the
United States Constitution requires that, following the
impeachment of the President, a judge, or another federal officer by the
House of Representatives, the subject of the impeachment may only be removed from office by a trial in the
Senate.
In earlier times disputes were often settled through a
trial by ordeal, where parties would have to endure physical suffering in order to prove their righteousness; or through a
trial by combat, in which the winner of a physical fight was deemed righteous in their cause.
Sadakat Kadri,
The Trial: A History, from Socrates to O.J. Simpson (Random House, 2005)
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www.law.umkc.edu University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law â€" Famous trials in the history of the United States
