Criminal Law
Framing of Charges
The stage where the court formally states the specific offence(s) the accused must answer to at trial.
After considering the charge sheet and material on record, the court frames charges — spelling out precisely which offence(s) the accused is alleged to have committed — and reads them out, asking the accused to plead guilty or claim trial.
This step matters because it fixes exactly what the prosecution must prove at trial; the accused cannot ordinarily be convicted of an offence they were never formally charged with.
Need a Criminal lawyer?
Browse Criminal Lawyers