— Also termed adversary procedure; (in criminal cases) accusatorial system, accusatory procedure. Cf. INQUISITORIAL SYSTEM.
“The term adversary system sometimes characterizes an entire legal process, and sometimes it refers only to criminal procedure. In the latter instance, it is often used interchangeably with an old expression of continental European origin, ‘accusatorial procedure,’ and is juxtaposed to the ‘inquisitorial,’ or ‘nonadversary,’ process. There is no precise understanding, however, of the institutions and arrangements denoted by these expressions.” Mirjan Damaska, “Adversary Procedure,” in 1 Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice 24, 24–25 (Sanford H. Kadish ed., 1983).