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).