trial Hear it!

trial definition - legal

n

  1. A formal judicial examination of issues of law or fact between parties by a court with jurisdiction in such cases.
  2. A formal adversarial proceeding to hear evidence and decide legal issues and claims. Trials are covered by established rules of courtroom procedure as well as rules of evidence.
bench trial
A trial held in front of a judge, but without the presence of a jury. Both parties must waive their constitutional rights to a trial by jury. The judge then gets to decide matters of fact as well as matters of law.
trial by jury
See jury trial.
trial de novo
A new trial, usually ordered by an appellate court that retries both matters of fact and law and proceeds as if the original trial had never taken place. See also mistrial and retrial.

Webster's New World Law Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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