indictment
noun · Anklageschrift
Anklageschrift is the right word for the document, § 200 StPO, but it sits inside a stage English procedure has no equivalent for, the Zwischenverfahren, in which the court examines the charge and must positively admit it by an Eröffnungsbeschluss, § 203 StPO, before any trial. The Anklageschrift does not open the trial by itself, and it is not the act of charging.
Which translation, when
Why
An English indictment is the formal statement of charges for trial on indictment, and once a case is sent to the Crown Court it proceeds to trial. The German Anklageschrift, § 200 StPO, looks equivalent as a document but sits within a stage English procedure does not have, the Zwischenverfahren, where the court reviews the prosecutor’s charge, decides whether there is hinreichender Tatverdacht, and only opens the main proceedings by a positive Eröffnungsbeschluss, § 203 StPO, or refuses to open them, § 204 StPO. So the Anklageschrift is a proposal the court can still reject before any trial, not a self-executing indictment, and it is distinct from the decision to charge itself, the Anklage the prosecutor brings. Translating indictment as Anklageschrift is correct for the paper, but the reader should know that a further judicial gate stands between the charge and the trial, which an English indictment does not face.
Typical mistakes
- The Anklageschrift does not open the trial, the court must admit it through the Eröffnungsbeschluss, § 203 StPO, after the Zwischenverfahren, a gate English procedure lacks, so reading indictment as an automatic route to trial is wrong.
- An indictment is the document, not the act of charging, the prosecutor’s decision to bring the Anklage is a separate matter, so the two should not be merged.
- The court can refuse to open proceedings, § 204 StPO, so an Anklageschrift is not the guarantee of trial that an English indictment effectively is.
What matters
A German charging document read into English as an indictment: the word fits the paper, but the reader planning the next step must see the Zwischenverfahren and the Eröffnungsbeschluss of § 203 StPO, because unlike an English indictment the Anklageschrift still has to clear a judicial admission before it reaches trial.
What the machine misses
Indictment is translated Anklageschrift dependably, and for the document it is right, but the output cannot convey that the German Anklageschrift must pass through the Zwischenverfahren and be admitted by an Eröffnungsbeschluss, § 203 StPO, before trial, a judicial gate the English indictment does not face. The reader assumes the charge goes straight to trial, when in German procedure a court still decides whether it may, and can refuse under § 204 StPO.
Examples
| to prefer an indictment | eine Anklageschrift einreichen |
| the indictment was served | die Anklageschrift wurde zugestellt |
| a count on the indictment | ein Anklagepunkt |