两者（加上定冠词the)均用于刑事案件中，指被告或罪犯。其区别在于the accused是指因违法行为而受到指控者，在此阶段，按无罪推定原理其还不应被称为罪犯，只有在被定罪， 即convicted of guilty时，其才可被称为罪犯，故the accused只应为“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)，其自然便可被译为“罪犯”，至于其是否被判刑、翻案、或被赦免等则是后话。此外，在外国法中，the convicted—般不包括犯貌视法庭罪（contempt of court) 而被指控和受罚者，而the accused则包括此类人员[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).