is a legal term that comes from the
Latin for "I do not wish to contend." It is also referred to as a
plea of
no contest. In criminal
trials in certain
U.S. jurisdictions, it is a plea where the
defendant neither admits nor disputes a
charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of
guilty or
not guilty. A no-contest plea, while not technically a guilty plea, has the same immediate effect as a guilty plea, and is often offered as a part of a
plea bargain. In many jurisdictions a plea of is not a
right, and carries various restrictions on its use.