7 - 11s glossary

Criminal offence
An act or action that is against the law.

Criminal record
Anyone sentenced for a crime will have a criminal record, even if they get an absolute discharge afterwards. However, some convictions become spent after a period of time. This means they are deleted from the database.

Crown Court
A court that deals with serious criminal cases.

Crown Prosecution Service
Lawyers who act on behalf of the state and present the case against the accused person.

Curfew order
This requires a person to stay in a particular place for a particular period of time, for example to stay at home for between two and twelve hours a day.

Custody
The imprisonment of an accused person before trial.