This article offers a sketch of two aspects of a liberal theory of the criminal trial. It does so by_x000D_ examining the criminal court first as an institution of the liberal state and second as a liberal institution of the state. Part II proposes a conception of the adversarial trial primarily as a process of holding the executive to account on its request for conviction and punishment. In some jurisdictions, the perceived need for a strong system of checks and balances has led to an expansion of the judicial role to include oversight of the executive in its exercise of investigatory powers. This expansion is resisted in other jurisdictions where a more restrictive view is taken of the court's political responsibility. Part III considers howliberal principles are reflected in thecommonlawform of criminal proceedings; it examines the importance of a 'fair trial' or 'due process'; and, it proposes an understanding of the trial not merely as a means of bringing criminals to justice but, more importantly, as a matter of doing justice to the accused.