Terms Used In California Codes > Government Code > Title 15 > Chapter 3 > Article 1 - General Provisions

• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• County: includes city and county. See California Health and Safety Code 14
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• department: means State Department of Health Services. See California Health and Safety Code 20
• Director: means "State Director of Health Services. See California Health and Safety Code 21
• Person: means any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or company. See California Health and Safety Code 19
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Health and Safety Code 23