passing sentence
Announcing the punishment
Passing sentence is the judicial act of formally pronouncing punishment on a convicted defendant.
The judge passes sentence after a guilty verdict or plea, specifying imprisonment, fines, probation, or other penalties: The court will reconvene Tuesday for passing sentence.
The moment marks the transition from trial to punishment.
- criminal courtForum for prosecuting offenses
- adjudicateFormally decide a dispute
- gavelSmall ceremonial hammer
- pronouncementFormal authoritative statement
- judgmentReasoned decision-making capacity
guilty verdict · verdict · guilty · bench · punishment · parole · courtroom · probation · mercy · conviction · proportionality · death penalty · prison term · penalty · ruling · decree · time served · incarceration
passing sentenceacquitting
Declaring legally innocent
acquittal · exonerating · exoneration · pardoning · dropping charges
passing sentencearraignment
Charge-reading court session
indictment · filing charges · opening arguments · preliminary hearing · investigation
passing, sentence, pass, passed, passes, passer, passable, impassable, passage