Terms Used In Delaware Code > Title 11 > Chapter 43 > Subchapter I - Purposes, Construction and Definitions

• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Board of Pardons: means that Board as established by the Constitution and laws. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 4302
• Commissioner of the Department: means Commissioner of the Department of Correction. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 4302
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Court: means Superior Court, Family Court, Court of Common Pleas, or Justices of the Peace Courts. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 4302
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the Department of Correction. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 4302
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Judge: means any judge of any court as herein defined. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 4302
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Law: means the laws of this State, including any ordinance of any subdivision or municipality. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 4302
• Merit and good behavior credits: means that diminution of the period of confinement, as provided by law, by reason of industrious and cooperative conduct. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 4302
• Offender: means any person who has been brought within the jurisdiction of the Superior Court, Family Court, or Court of Common Pleas or within the scope of duties of the Board of Parole or the Board of Pardons. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 4302
• Parole: means the release by the Parole Board of an offender from incarceration to the community prior to the expiration of the offender's term, subject to the supervision and guidance of the Department. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 4302
• Parole Board: means the duly established Board of Parole as the paroling authority of the State. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 4302
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Presentence investigation: means the procedure by which the court, subsequent to conviction but prior to sentencing, obtains information concerning the offender sufficient to evaluate the offender's conduct and to determine the offender's potentialities for rehabilitation, with appropriate recommendations for judicial disposition. See Delaware Code Title 11 Sec. 4302
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Year: means a calendar year, and is equivalent to the words "year of our Lord. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302