Wikipedia对“plea bargaining”的解释如下：

“A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or nolo contendere. This may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to a less serious charge, or to one of the several charges, in return for the dismissal of other charges; or it may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to the original criminal charge in return for a more lenient sentence.

A plea bargain allows both parties to avoid a lengthy criminal trial and may allow criminal defendants to avoid the risk of conviction at trial on a more serious charge. For example, in the legal system of the United States, a criminal defendant charged with a felony theft charge, the conviction of which would require imprisonment in state prison, may be offered the opportunity to plead guilty to a misdemeanor theft charge, which may not carry a custodial sentence.”

《元照英美法词典》将其译为“控辩交易”，指在刑事诉讼中，检察官与被告人进行谈判，说服被告人作有罪答辩，以换取检察官的指控或法院判决上的让步。通常做法是如果被告人承认犯有某一较轻的罪行，或者承认控方多项指控〔multiple charges〕中的一项罪行，检察官可以对被告人降格指控，或者撤回对其他罪项的指控，或者建议法庭对被告人减轻处罚。检察官与被告人达成的协议经法院批准后即可执行。控辩交易的做法在出现之初引起了人们的争议。20世纪60年代美国最高法院宣布其为合法，从而得到广泛采用。

对于检察官而言，这项交易可以提高定罪率，可以说服被告在法庭上作证对共同被告或其他被告进行指控，也可以避免进行耗时、耗力、耗钱且没有胜诉保证的审判。对于被告辩护人而言，可以少花些时间精力在相关案件上，有助于提高他们的工作效率，带来更多收益。对于法官来说，可以进行高效审判，减少案件被上诉法院推翻的可能性，减少在审判中作出裁决的必要性。而对于被告来说，这项交易能够减轻他们可能受到的处罚，比如，如果他们在判决前已在拘留所，通常在判决时会将拘留时间考虑在内并从最终的刑期中扣除。但是，这项交易并非无可指摘。有人会认为违法犯罪分子有机会逃避应当受到的处罚，也有些人认为无辜的被告人可能因不知所措而被迫接受控辩交易。

例句1：

原文：

Many people choose a plea bargain instead of going to trial because it is much faster and you can be sure of the outcome. But, make sure you understand the impact of what you are agreeing to. You give up some of your rights, like the right to a jury trial, the right to confront your accuser, and the right not to incriminate yourself. You will have to stand up in court and confess to the crime you are pleading guilty to.

译文：

许多人不选择开庭审理，而是选择控辩交易，因为后者进程更快，结果更有保障。但是，请务必确保您了解同意交易所产生的影响。您放弃了某些权利，比如，要求陪审团审判的权利，与原告对质的权利，不被迫自证其罪的权利。您将不得不出庭承认罪行。

例句2：

原文：

Ordinarily, plea negotiations should be accompanied by agreement between the prosecution and defence on the statement of facts to be presented to the court as the basis for sentencing. Such statement should not distort the provable facts or provide an artificial basis for sentencing.

译文：

通常随着商讨答辩，控辩双方会同意事实陈述，交给法庭作为判刑根据。有关陈述不可扭曲可证明的事实，或刻意营造为判刑提供基础。

来源：

Wikipedia；

《元照英美法词典》；

nycourts.gov；

www.doj.gov.hk