Speedy Trial Act Law and Legal Definition
Speedy Trial Act is a federal law which establishes time limits for carrying out the indictment and arraignment in a criminal prosecution. The right to speedy trial is a constitutional right available to an accused person in a criminal case under The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Act specifies the time limits for the trial of offenses and states the excludable periods of delay. For instance, delay resulting from any proceeding, including any examinations to determine the mental competency or physical capacity of the defendant, the delay resulting from any interlocutory appeal, or from transportation of any defendant from another district shall be excluded in computing the time within which an information or an indictment must be filed.
The right to a speedy is not available during each and every stage of a criminal case. The provisions under the Act are applicable only after a person has been arrested, indicted, or otherwise formally accused of a crime by the government. Similarly, the Act does not apply to post trial criminal proceedings, such as Probation and Parole hearings.
