Concurrent sentence

It is a method of punishment employed where a person is found guilty of multiple crimes with varying degrees of punishments and the terms of imprisonment are to run simultaneously (i.e. together or at the same).

For example, A is standing trial for 3 different crimes with each carrying the following jail terms: 4, 7 and 2 years' imprisonment respectively. Where A is found guilty of all the three counts and the trial judge allows the terms to run together (i.e. concurrently), then it means A will only spend 7 years in prison because that is the highest jail term and not 13 years. Similarly, assuming each of the 3 offences carries the same jail term, say 5 years. In that case, A will only serve 5 years in prison and not 15 years.

Contrast: consecutive sentence.