A
show trial is a
public trial in which the
judicial authorities have already determined the
guilt of the
defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as an impressive example and as a warning to other would-be dissidents or transgressors. Show trials tend to be
retributive rather than
correctional justice and also conducted for
propagandistic purposes. The term was first recorded in the 1930s.