A defendant is the party sued or accused against whom a civil claim or criminal charge is brought.
Defendant means the party sued in a civil case or the party accused in a criminal case.
Defendant is the counterpart to plaintiff in civil procedure and a core label in criminal procedure. The term tells the reader which party must respond to the allegations and whose rights, obligations, and defenses are at stake.
The term also matters because procedural protections often focus on the defendant’s position. Notice, service, pleading standards, response deadlines, and some constitutional protections become easier to understand once the reader can identify the defendant’s role.
Defendant appears in captions, complaints, summonses, motions, discovery, judgments, and appeals. It also appears in service rules because a case often cannot move forward until the defendant is properly notified.
A landlord sues a tenant for unpaid rent and possession. In that civil case, the tenant is the defendant because the tenant must respond to the claims.
A defendant is different from a plaintiff, who starts the civil case. In criminal matters, the defendant is also different from the government or prosecution, which brings the charge.