In our unit on the Criminal Law and Procedure, my students of Legal English often express surprise at the number of seemingly simple verbs used in describing criminal proceedings, many of which are collocations that must be coupled with the right preposition. In the event that they may be of interest to readers of this blog, here are what perhaps may be considered the Top 20 Legal English Crimpro Verbs:

• to suspect (someone) OF having committed a crime
• to commit a crime
• to accuse (someone) OF a crime
• to be charged WITH a crime
• to bring charges AGAINST (someone)
• to arrest (someone) ON a charge OF (X)
• to be arrested FOR an offense
• to be brought BEFORE a judge
• to plead guilty/not guilty TO a crime
• to confess TO a crime
• to be released ON bail
• to prosecute (someone) FOR an offense
• to be tried FOR an offense
• to defend the accused AGAINST the charges
• to pass verdict ON the accused
• to find the accused guilty AS charged
• to convict/acquit the accused
• to sentence the accused TO 10 years in prison
• to serve a 10-year sentence
• to be released FROM incarceration