judgment of conviction
- noun
- /ˈdʒʌdʒmənt əv kənˈvɪkʃən/
- Formal
- Our problem is that in order to appeal the judgment of conviction, we would have needed to do so within 60 days.
- enter a judgment of conviction
Examples
-
To appeal the judgment of conviction, the defendant must file the necessary documents within the specified time frame.
-
The parties enter the plea bargain so that the court can exercise its coercive power over the defendant by entering a judgment of conviction and sentencing him or her.
Academic text (2017) -
The judge takes no formal judicial action imposing or adopting the DPA's terms, and the district court enters no judgment of conviction. DPAs do not implicate sentencing power, and therefore judges may not review them.
Academic text (2017) -
The lawyer prepared a comprehensive brief to challenge the judgment of conviction handed down by the trial court.
-
The judgment of conviction stated that the defendant would serve five years in prison for the theft.
Synonyms
A formal court decision that says someone is guilty of a crime
A final court decision that finds someone guilty and gives a punishment
Surface Forms
Morphology
judgment + of + conviction
Both constituents are legal words whose meanings (‘judgment’ = court decision; ‘conviction’ = finding of guilt) combine compositionally: the phrase denotes a court judgment that records or declares a conviction. The noun + of + noun structure is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the parts can infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Judgment of conviction is like a judge's written decision: judgment is the official decision and conviction means the person is 'guilty', and the paper also states the 'punishment'. So the phrase means the formal court decision that declares someone guilty and shows what will happen to them.