accusatorial, a.
(əˌkjuːzəˈtɔərɪəl)
[f. L. accūsātōri-us belonging to an accuser + -al1.]
Of or pertaining to an accuser. Applied to legal procedure, in which a distinct accuser or prosecutor appears.
| 1823 Bentham Not Paul but Jesus 350 In modern Rome-bred law, this mode of procedure, in which the parts of judge and prosecutor are performed by the same person, is styled the inquisitorial; in contradistinction to this, that in which the part of prosecutor is borne by a different person, is styled the accusatorial. 1847 Secr. Soc. Middle Ages 332 The Fehm-tribunals had three different modes of procedure; namely, that in case of the criminal being taken in the fact, the inquisitorial, and the purely accusatorial. |