To Judge
transitive verb, godan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means judge so the verb version is to judge.
さばく
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:
When you go to judge people, there are different types. The one you truly hate the most, however, is the sobber (さば). "The Sobber" is the worst kind. They just sob and sob and sob and it's really hard to move on to your next judging.
コウイチの罪は最高裁判所で裁かれる予定です。
Koichi's crimes will be judged in the Supreme Court.
裁判所はできるだけ公平に裁かなければなりませんが、裁判官も人なので難しいこともあります。
The courts must judge as impartially as possible, but it can be difficult because judges are people too.
その男が殺人犯であることがわかったが、時効を迎えているので法的には誰も彼を裁く事ができない。
It came out that the man is a murderer, but the statute of limitations already ran out, so no one is legally able to place judgment on him.