Jargon buster

Absolute Discharge

When a person is guilty of a charge, the judge can decide to 'discharge' them (unless the sentence for the offence is fixed by law). This means that no punishment is given. In solemn (more serious) cases, a conviction is recorded. In summary (less serious) cases, no conviction is recorded, however, for some purposes (for example if the person is convicted of another crime in the future), it may be regarded as a previous conviction. An absolute discharge is only given in exceptional circumstances. 

Accused

The accused is a person or group of people charged with (accused of) criminal offences by a prosecutor. 

Acquittal

An acquittal is when an accused person is found not guilty of an offence. This results in the accused being cleared of the offence. 

Admonition

An admonition is where an accused person found guilty of a crime is warned not to offend again. It is recorded as a conviction and appears on their criminal record. No other penalty is given.

Advocate

An advocate is a lawyer who can defend accused people in all Scottish courts cases, but they are more often seen at the High Court. Advocates are also known as counsel.

Advocate depute

An advocate depute is an experienced prosecutor who appears in the High Court where the more serious cases are heard. 

Advocate General

The Advocate General is a UK Government minister and the UK Government's chief legal adviser on Scots law.

Age of criminal prosecution

This is the age children can be prosecuted. In Scotland it is 12. Children under the age of 16 are normally dealt with by the Children’s Reporter and Children’s Hearing System. Where an offence is serious, a child over 12 can be dealt with in court. 

Age of criminal responsibility

The age of criminal responsibility in Scotland was raised from 8 to 12 years old in November 2019. This means children under the age of 12 cannot be arrested for, charged with, or convicted of a criminal offence.

Aggravation

An aggravation is something that makes a charge more serious and is likely to make the the sentence more severe. For example, racial abuse can be a racial aggravation in a charge such as assault. What counts as an aggravation is often set out in an Act of Parliament.

Analogous convictions

These are crimes that an offender has committed in the past which are similar to the one they are currently being sentenced for.

Ancillary Orders

Ancillary orders are orders which are imposed by the court in addition to a sentence or, in some instances, as an alternative to the sentence which the court could have imposed.

Some ancillary orders are mandatory and other ancillary orders are discretionary, depending on the circumstances of the case.

Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO)

An ASBO prohibits an offender from doing anything listed in the Order. It is intended to stop antisocial behaviour that causes other people alarm or distress. For example anti-social behaviour could be playing loud music on a regular basis, or continually drinking in the street and becoming rowdy. A judge can issue an ASBO instead of, or in addition to, any other sentence. 

Appeal

An appeal is when:

• an accused person who has been convicted of a crime and given a sentence goes back to court to challenge the conviction, the sentence, or both, or
• the prosecutor goes back to court to challenge a sentence if they think it is unduly lenient, or (in some cases) to challenge a verdict of acquittal.

See our 'Disposals and appeals' page for further information.

Appeal sheriffs

Appeal sheriffs are judges who sit in the Sheriff Appeal Court. All sheriffs principal are appeal sheriffs. The Lord President can appoint other sheriffs to become appeal sheriffs as well. For more information on sheriff principals see the Judicial Office for Scotland website.

Assessment Order

This Order enables a judge to send a convicted offender, who is believed to have a mental disorder based on evidence from a medical doctor, to a psychiatric hospital for assessment and treatment.

Automatic Early Release

This is the point at which an offender will be released from prison and is set out in law passed by the Scottish Parliament. 

Offenders given a short term sentence (less than four years) normally will be automatically released from prison into the community after serving a fixed portion of their sentence in prison. This is presently 30%, except for those serving sentences for sexual offences or domestic abuse, for whom it is 50%. Automatic early release does not apply to those serving extended sentences. The person is not normally supervised by a social worker unless they are sentenced to a sexual offence of six months or more in prison, or are placed on a Supervised Release Order.

Offenders given a long term sentence (four years or more) will usually serve all but the final six months of the sentence in prison unless the Parole Board for Scotland recommends that they should be released earlier into the community. The Parole Board will only start to consider whether or not to release the person as they approach the halfway point of their sentence. If an offender is not released at that point, the Board will re-consider parole within 12 months.