兩者(加上定冠詞the)均用于刑事案件中,指被告或罪犯。其區(qū)別在于the accused是指因違法行為而受到指控者,在此階段,按無罪推定原理其還不應(yīng)被稱為罪犯,只有在被定罪, 即convicted of guilty時,其才可被稱為罪犯,故the accused只應(yīng)為“刑事被告”[1]。而the convicted指被法院裁定有罪者(a person to be found guilty of a criminal offense),其自然便可被譯為“罪犯”,至于其是否被判刑、翻案、或被赦免等則是后話。此外,在外國法中,the convicted—般不包括犯貌視法庭罪(contempt of court) 而被指控和受罰者,而the accused則包括此類人員[2]。
[1 ] “ A person who has been arrested for or formally chained with a crime ; the defendant in a criminal case." Cf. Linda Picard Wood, J. D.,Merriam, Webster's Dictionary of Law, at p. 6, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, Springfield, Massachusetts (1996).
[2 ]Cf. Daphne A. Dukelow, The Dictionary of Canadian Law, at p. 216,A Case-well Publication (1991).