pretrial preparation; trial preparation
Legal term referring to the preparatory steps before a court hearing or trial, such as evidence gathering and witness coordination.
The lawyer is busy with trial preparation.
The pretrial preparation proceedings will start next week.
公判 means 'public trial' or 'court hearing', while 公判準備 specifically refers to the preparation stage before the trial.
準備 is the general word for 'preparation'; 公判準備 narrows it to legal trial preparation.
Compound of 公判 (public trial) and 準備 (preparation). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is a straightforward modern legal compound.