accuse v. to say that someone has done something morally wrong, illegal or unkind You accuse someone of something.

  The United States on Thursday charged an Australian citizen, now imprisoned at the American naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, with fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan. He is expected to go before a military tribunal sometime in August.
The prisoner, David Hicks, was formally accused of conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent, and aiding the enemy...
or was accused of conspiring to commit war crimes
n. accusation
  The accusation of fraud was later found to be false.

see also charge

accused (the)
n. defendant in a criminal proceeding
  The accused is said to be a member of a right wing gang.

acquit
v. to find a defendant not guilty in a criminal trial
  Acquitted of the killings, Simpson says he holds the news media responsible for persuading a majority of the public that he was guilty.
acquittal, n.
  The acquittal of O.J. Simpson surprised many people who thought he was guilty of murdering his ex-wife.

act
n. (e.g., Civil Rights Act): A perfect example of a word with more than one meaning. An act may be a law on a particular subject such as the Clean Air Act. The word act is also often used in the name of proposed legislation or bills such as in the Working Families Flexibility Act of 1996, proposed legislation introduced in the 104th Congress.
  The bill was not enacted and was reintroduced in the 105th Congress. (see bill)

action:
n. in court, when one person sues someone else to:
- defend or enforce a right,
- stop something bad from happening or fix something, or

- punish them for a crime.
  Unlike criminal proceedings - where the State almost always has the role of prosecuting individuals who are alleged to have broken the criminal law, in a civil action one party takes proceedings against another party.
  A civil action can be brought, for instance, if a person defames you or trespasses on your land.

advocate
n.1) someone who speaks or argues in favour of a cause (compare lawyer, attorney, barrister, solicitor, counsel)
  "Never before," announced an advocate of the "new internationalism," had "there been such a universal revulsion against force as a means of settling international quarrels."
2) In Scotland, advocates perform the same role as barristers in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. The Faculty of Advocates, whose elected members administer the Scottish Bar, has about 425 practising members. In essence, in Scotland an advocate is a self-employed independent lawyer.
3) in England and Wales, solicitors who have qualified to exercise rights of audience in higher courts are known as solicitor advocates.

affirm
v. to say that the lower court's decision was right (action of an appellate court) (opp. – reverse)
  The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the lower court.

allege
v. To say, declare, or charge that something is true even though it isn't proved yet.

alleged adj. The accused is alleged to have plotted to kill the queen.
allegedly adv. His car allegedly struck and killed the pedestrian.
allegation n. A statement or claim that is made and hasn't been proved to be true or false.

  Allegations of brutality and theft have been levelled at the Army.

appeal n. a formal request for a decision to be changed
  There is no right to take an appeal to the Supreme Court. Permission to do so must be granted either by
the Court of Appeal or by the Supreme Court itself.
In the common law system, appeals only concern questions of law, never questions of fact.
appeal v. take a court case to a higher court for review

  He said they would appeal the decision. (US)
  He said they would appeal against the decision. (UK)

  His appeal against the verdict was successful.
  The World Trade Organization ruled Friday that U.S. subsidies to cotton farmers are unfair to producers in Brazil, but the United States said it will appeal the decision.
appellant n. someone who is appealing against a court's decision – (opp. appellee])
appellate adj. an appellate court (US - court of appeals ; UK - court of appeal)
  The appellate court overturned the conviction for murder, and so he was released from prison.

arrest
v. If the police arrest someone, they take them away to ask them about a crime which they might have committed
  Police arrested five young men in connection with the attacks.
  Police arrested her for public nudity.
arrest n. She was placed under arrest for shoplifting.

attorney
n. (US) Someone that is qualified to represent clients in court and to give them legal advice. In the US, the terms attorney (or attorney-at-law) and lawyer describe the same type of legal professional.
In England, the term lawyer can be used, but not attorney, when describing legal professionals. See barrister and solicitor
  On Sept. 15, he was approached by the FBI. He said he waived his right to have an attorney present because he felt he had nothing to hide.
--Attorney General n. A country's Attorney General is its chief law officer who advises its king, queen, or government.
--district attorney n. a lawyer whose job is to represent the government in a particular area of the U.S. (abbreviation D.A.)
--attorney, power of n. the legal right to act for someone else in their financial or business matters, or the document which gives someone this right
  His father gave him a power of attorney to sign the contract for him.

award (damages)
v. to give money following an official decision by a court or by arbitration
n. a sum of money that a court decides to give someone to compensate for an injury; a grant made by a law court
  The jury's award of £100,000 in damages for libel was considered excessive.
In the context of arbitration, award is often used to refer to the final decision of the arbitrators.
  In Brook v. Peak Int'l Ltd., the former employee, Brook, asked the court to vacate an arbitrator's award
because the American Arbitration Association (AAA) did not follow the provisions of the parties' arbitration agreement for selecting an arbitrator.