Conviction

Conviction
For other senses of this word, see conviction (disambiguation).
"Convicted" redirects here. For other uses, see Convicted (disambiguation).
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1 US courts.
2 Not in English/Welsh courts.
3 Scottish courts.
4 English/Welsh courts.
5 Canadian courts.
6 UK courts.
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In law, a conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime.

The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (i.e. "not guilty"). In Scotland and in the Netherlands, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which counts as an acquittal. There are also cases where the court orders that a defendant not be convicted, despite being found guilty.

For a host of reasons, the criminal justice system is not perfect, and sometimes guilty defendants are acquitted, while innocent people are convicted. Appeal mechanisms mitigate this problem to some extent. An error which results in the conviction of an innocent person is known as a miscarriage of justice.

After a defendant is convicted, the court determines the appropriate sentence as a punishment. Furthermore, the conviction may lead to results beyond the terms of the sentence itself. Such ramifications are known as the collateral consequences of criminal charges.

A minor conviction is considered, in a term, a warning conviction, and it doesn't affect the defendant, but does serve as a warning.

A history of convictions are called antecedents, known colloquially as "previous" in the United Kingdom, and "priors" in the United States and Australia.

The history of convictions also shows that a minor law conviction can be prosecuted as any individuals punishment.

Conviction is also a movie made in 2010. It is about a working mother puts herself through law school in an effort to represent her brother, who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and has exhausted his chances to appeal his conviction through public defenders. If you wish to learn more, go to www.movies.com and search it up.

Conviction rates by Country

References

  • Article: Comparison of the conviction rates of a few countries of the world.
Country Conviction Rate Date Notes
Britain 74% 2006
Russia 99% 2007
United States 80% 2006
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  • conviction — [ kɔ̃viksjɔ̃ ] n. f. • 1579; lat. imp. convictio, de convincere → convaincre 1 ♦ Vieilli Preuve établissant la culpabilité de qqn. Conviction de mensonge. ♢ Mod. PIÈCE À CONVICTION : objet à la disposition de la justice pour fournir un élément de …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • conviction — con·vic·tion n 1: the act or process of convicting; also: the final judgment entered after a finding of guilt a prior conviction of murder would not overturn the conviction compare acquittal ◇ Jurisdictions differ as to what constitutes… …   Law dictionary

  • Conviction — Con*vic tion (k[o^]n*v[i^]k sh[u^]n), n. [L. convictio proof: cf. F. conviction conviction (in sense 3 & 4). See {Convict}, {Convince}.] 1. The act of convicting; the act of proving, finding, or adjudging, guilty of an offense. [1913 Webster] The …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • conviction — con‧vic‧tion [kənˈvɪkʆn] noun LAW 1. [countable] a decision in a court of law that someone is guilty of a crime: • Smith, who had no previous motoring convictions, had been rushing home to see his family when he hit another car. conviction for • …   Financial and business terms

  • conviction — CONVICTION. s. f. L effet qu une preuve évidente produit dans l esprit. Être dans une entière conviction. Avoir une entière conviction des vérités de la Religion. [b]f♛/b] Il se dit aussi De la preuve évidente et indubitable d une vérité, d un… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • conviction — Conviction. s. f. v. Preuve évidente & indubitable d une verité, d un fait. Conviction évidente, manifeste, forte. on a long temps douté de la circulation du sang, mais l experience nous en a donné une conviction entiere. on l accuse de cette… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • conviction — [n1] belief, opinion confidence, creed, doctrine, dogma, eye, faith, feeling, judgment call, mind, persuasion, principle, reliance, say so*, sentiment, slant, tenet, view; concept 689 conviction [n2] guilty sentence; assurance assuredness,… …   New thesaurus

  • conviction — [kən vik′shən] n. [ME < LL(Ec) convictio, proof, demonstration] 1. a convicting or being convicted 2. Rare the act of convincing 3. the state or appearance of being convinced, as of the truth of a belief [to speak with conviction] 4. a strong… …   English World dictionary

  • Conviction — (v. lat. Convictio), Überführung; vgl. Criminalbeweis …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Conviction — Conviction, lat., Ueberführung …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • conviction — (n.) mid 15c., the proving of guilt, from L.L. convictionem (nom. convictio) proof, refutation, noun of action from pp. stem of convincere (see CONVINCE (Cf. convince)). Meaning mental state of being convinced is from 1690s; that of firm belief,… …   Etymology dictionary

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