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2,016 bytes added ,  21:32, 26 June 2011
Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Origin== Old French ''aquite''-r, ''acuiter'' (Provençal ''aquitar'') < late Latin ''acquitāre'', < ac- = ad-...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Acquittal.jpg|right|frame]]

==Origin==
Old French ''aquite''-r, ''acuiter'' (Provençal ''aquitar'') < late [[Latin]] ''acquitāre'', < ac- = ad- to + *quitāre, = [[Latin]] quiētare to settle; see quit n.1 As in quit, the vowel was long, ''aquīte'', to 16th and even 17th cent.

orig. To [[quiet]], appease, or satisfy a claim. Hence, To [[satisfy]] or settle the claimant or creditor; to clear or discharge the [[debtor]].
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_century 15th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: a setting [[free]] from the charge of an [[offense]] by [[verdict]], sentence, or other [[legal]] [[process]]
*2: To pay the [[debt]] for and [[free]] (a debtor or [[prisoner]]); to [[deliver]], ransom.
*3: To set [[free]], release, liberate, [[deliver]], rid (a [[person]] of or from a [[duty]], [[obligation]], or burden)
==Description==
In the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law common law] [[tradition]], an '''acquittal''' [[formally]] certifies the [[innocence]] of the accused, as far as the criminal [[law]] is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolle_prosequi ''nolle prosequi'']. Under the rules of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_jeopardy double jeopardy] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autrefois_acquit ''autrefois acquit''], an acquittal operates to bar the retrial of the accused for the same [[offense]], even if new [[evidence]] surfaces that further implicates the accused. The [[effect]] of an acquittal on [[criminal]] proceedings is the same whether it results from a [[jury]] [[verdict]], or whether it results from the operation of some other rule that discharges the accused.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_law Scots law] has two acquittal [[verdicts]]: ''not guilty'' and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_proven ''not proven'']. However a [[verdict]] of "not proven" does not give rise to the double jeopardy rule.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquittal]

[[Category: Law]]