A bench trial is a trial by judge, as opposed to a jury. The term applies most appropriately to any administrative hearing in relation to a summary offense to distinguish the type of trial. Many legal systems (Roman, Islamic) use bench trials for most or all cases or for certain types of cases.
As a jury renders a verdict, in a bench trial, a judge does the same by making a finding.
A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). Most appellate courts do not have the authority to hear testimony or take evidence, but instead rule solely on matters of law.
In the trial court, evidence and testimony are admitted under the rules of evidence established by applicable procedural law and determinations called findings of fact are made based on the evidence. The court, presided over by one or more judges, makes findings of law based upon the applicable law. In most common law jurisdictions, the trial court often sits with a jury and one judge; in such jury trials, the jury acts as trier of fact. In some cases, the judge or judges act as triers of both fact and law, by either statute, custom, or agreement of the parties; this is referred to as a bench trial.
In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales, a coroner's findings used to be called verdicts but are, since 2009, called conclusions (see Coroner § Inquest conclusions (previously called verdicts)).
A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes findings of fact and reaches a verdict. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions.
Jury trials are used in a significant share of serious criminal cases in many common law judicial systems, but not all. Juries or lay judges have also been incorporated into the legal systems of many civil law countries for criminal cases.
In criminal law, guilt is the state of being responsible for the commission of an offense. Legal guilt is entirely externally defined by the state, or more generally a "court of law". Being factually guilty of a criminal offense means that one has committed a violation of criminal law or performed all the elements of the offense set out by a criminal statute. The determination that one has committed that violation is made by an external body (a "court of law") after the determination of the facts by a finder of fact or "factfinder" (i.e., a jury) and is, therefore, as definitive as the record-keeping of the body. For instance, in the case of a bench trial, a judge acts as both the court of law and the factfinder, whereas in a jury trial, the jury is the trier of fact and the judge acts only as the trier of law.
Carl Andre (September 16, 1935 – January 24, 2024) was an American minimalist artist recognized for his ordered linear and grid format sculptures. His sculptures range from large public artworks (such as Stone Field Sculpture, 1977, in Hartford, Connecticut, and Lament for the Children, 1976, in Long Island City, New York), to large interior works exhibited on the floor (such as 144 Magnesium Square, 1969), to small intimate works (such as Satier: Zinc on Steel, 1989, and 7 Alnico Pole, 2011).
In 1985 his third wife, contemporary artist Ana Mendieta, fell from their 34th-floor apartment window and died. Neighbors heard an argument and Mendieta shouting "no" immediately before the fall. He was acquitted of a second-degree murder charge in a 1988 bench trial, causing uproar among feminists in the art world; supporters of Mendieta have protested at his subsequent exhibitions.
A sheriff court (Scottish Gaelic: Cùirt an t-Siorraim) is the principal local civil and criminal court in Scotland, with exclusive jurisdiction over all civil cases with a monetary value up to £100,000, and with the jurisdiction to hear any criminal case except treason, murder, and rape, which are in the exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court of Justiciary. Though the sheriff courts have concurrent jurisdiction with the High Court over armed robbery, drug trafficking, and sexual offences involving children, the vast majority of these cases are heard by the High Court. Each court serves a sheriff court district within one of the six sheriffdoms of Scotland. Each sheriff court is presided over by a sheriff, who is a legally qualified judge, and part of the judiciary of Scotland.
Sheriff courts hear civil cases as a bench trial without a jury, and make determinations and judgments alone. However, the specialist all-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court (based in Edinburgh) has the ability to hear cases with a jury of twelve. Sheriff courts hear criminal trials on complaint as a bench trial for summary offences, and as a trial with a jury of fifteen for indictable offences. Where a person is convicted following a case heard on complaint they can be sentenced to a maximum of twelve months imprisonment and/or a £10,000 fine, and in solemn cases, 5 years imprisonment or an unlimited fine.