Accused		A legal document issued by a judge authorizing the police to search a specific location at a specific time for a specific reason.
Actus Reus		An early stage in criminal proceedings where the crown attorney can reveal all evidence it has against the accused; charges may be dropped if the crowns case isn't strong enough.
Adversarial System		A Latin phrase meaning " a wrongful deed"; the physical act of a crime, which together with mens rea makes a person criminally liable.
Appearance notice		Detainment or arrest of a person by a person other than a police officer.
Assisted suicide		To enter another's premises without permission by breaking or opening anything that is closed; also called burglary.
Bail Hearing		A principle of justice holding that decisions should be based on objective criteria, rather than on a basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one person over another for improper reasons.
Break and enter		Any material, including illegal drugs and drugs legally prescribed by doctors, listed In the controlled drugs and substance act.
Challenge for a cause		A hearing with the purpose of seeing if the crown has enough evidence to justify sending the case to trial; it also gives the accused a chance to hear the details of the case against him or her.
Citizens arrest		The fact or quality of being believable or reliable
Controlled substances		To remove an act from the criminal code that Canadians no longer feel is severely immoral; this, the act in no longer a criminal offence (although it still may be illegal).
Credibility		The broad term for the three levels of sexual assault (the most serious of which is aggravated sexual assault), which parallel those for assault.
Criminal code		A hearing before a judge or justice of the peace to determine whether an accused can be released from jail before trial and with what conditions; supposed to happen within 24 hours of arrest.
Criminal offence		The police procedure in which officers look for evidence that may be used in court.
Criminalize		Anything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth in a court of law.
Crown attorney		A negotiation in which the crown and the defence attempt to make a deal, usually resulting in a guilty plea to a lesser charger than the original charge, thus resulting in a lesser penalty.
Custody		Killing another person by committing an unlawful act with only a general intent.
Decriminalize		Driving a vehicle at high speeds in a reckless and dangerous manner; considered a criminal offence.
Defence council		A formal objection to a potential juror for which no specific reason is given, unlike a challenge for cause.
Detain		Taking someone's property without their consent.
Direct evidence		Theft involving violence, threat of violence, assault, or the use of offensive weapons.
Disclosure		A legal document issued by a judge to order the arrest of the accused, and naming or describing the accused as well as listing the alleged offences.
Evidence		A solemn promise or statement that something is true.
Fraud		The legal representative of an accused.
Homicide		A severe or particularly serious criminal offence(e.g., murder,treason), which has a correspondingly severe penalty, and which proceeds by way of formal court document called an indictment.
Hung jury		A legal document dealing with the criminal offence the accused is charged with, and the date the accused must attend court
Hybrid offence		To keep in custody or temporarily confine.
Impartiality		In criminal law, actual imprisonment or physical detention; in family law, the care and control of a child awarded by the court.
Indictable offence		A minor criminal offence ( in contrast to an indictable offence), which is tried immediately
Legalize		Intentional homicide( killing of another person); has two classes first degree murder and second degree murder.
Manslaughter		Information (evidence) given by a person who witnessed the event in question(e.g., testimony of a bystander who saw an assault take place.)
Mens rea		An action that is considered a crime, as defined in the criminal code.
Murder		A formal objection to prospective juror for reasons such as the jurors knowledge of the case or lack of impartiality.
Oath		The system of law in which two opposing sides each present their case in court.
Peremptory challenge		A jury that cannot come to a unanimous decision a criminal case.
Plea negotiation		To keep the jury together and away from non- jurors until they reach a verdict.
Preliminary hearing		To initiate and carry out a legal action; in criminal law, a crown attorney prosecutes an accused.
Prosecute		The killing of another person, directly or indirectly.
Reasonable and probable grounds		To make an act completely legal; that is, it is not punishable in the criminal code, nor is it punishable by a fine.
Robbery		In criminal matters the lawyer prosecuting on behalf of the crown and society; an agent of the attorney general.
Search		The body of the public law that declares actions to be crimes (criminal offences), and prescribes punishments for those actions.
Search warrant		A set of facts or circumstances that would cause a person of ordinary and prudent judgement to believe beyond mere suspicion.
Sequester		Criminal offence that may be tried, at the crown's option, as a summary conviction offence or an indictable offence, with the corresponding less or more severe punishment.
Sexual assault		Aiding and abetting someone to commit suicide.
Soliciting		A Latin phrase meaning "a guilty mind"; the knowledge, intent, or recklessness of ones actions, which together with acts reus, makes one criminally liable.
Street racing		Communicating for the purposes of prosecuting.
Summary conviction offence		To impose a criminal penalty on something that Canadians feel is so immoral that is must be a criminal offence in the criminal code.
Theft		Intentionally deceiving the public or a person in order to cause a loss of property.
Warrant		The person charged with an offence; the defendant in a criminal trial.