Brought to trial generally refers to scheduling a legal case for a hearing,^[1] or to bring a defendant to court.^[2] However, it has several different, ambiguous meanings and examples used in the law. To bring to trial may refer to bringing a defendant to court when the process is ongoing.

Most often, the terms brought to trial, bring to trial, brought to justice and bring to justice refer to the prosecution at trial of alleged war criminals^[3] and political prisoners,^[4][5] as well as those accused of treason or misprision of treason, sexual assault, and other infamous crimes.^[6][7]

In some cases, the context of the term actually indicates a speedy trial issue, as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution.^{[8][9][10][11]}

A number of related terms and meanings exist:

• "Arraign, litigate, lodge, bring a complaint, bring to view evidence, exhibit, manifest and bring together, [and] accumulate."^[12]
• "Lawsuit, suit, suit in law, suit at law, litigation, prosecution, bring a case before the court or bar, [and] bring to justice."^[13]
• To "call to the bar, ... take silk, take to the law, bring to the bar, put on trial, pull up, accuse, ... file a claim, [and] inform against."^[14]
• When the parties in a mediation or settlement conference can not come to an alternate dispute resolution, the action is brought to trial.^{[citation needed]}