Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Terminology explaination

It really depends on what county you're in, but generally the meaning of the term is the list of cases that the DA has indicated are "ready for trial." This is done in order to comply with the "speedy trial" requirement that guarantees that defendants are brought to trial w/in 365 days of being charged.

If the DA says that the case is ready for trial, and for whatever reason the trial doesn't take place, they can make the argument that they did their part to assure the trial was held in a timely fashion, thus the charges should not be dismissed as a result of the delay.