A jail (also spelled gaol) is a protected place where people are locked up. The police or other, similar groups, who are meant to protect people, are in charge of it.
Some of the people locked in jails are:
- People who might have done something against the law (doing this is a crime) and have not yet been to court (where whether or not they did it is found out for sure), or who cannot pay the bail amount set by the court, or who the court thinks are too dangerous to be let out.
- People whose court trial is still happening.
- People who have returned from prison to appeal their prior court trial; or,
- People who have been convicted of a lesser (often misdemeanor) crime with a sentence of usually less than a year.