Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes > Chapter 386 > Part I - General Provisions

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Attending physician: means a physician who is primarily responsible for the treatment of a work injury. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Compensation: means all benefits accorded by this chapter to an employee or the employee's dependents on account of a work injury as defined in this section; it includes medical and rehabilitation benefits, income and indemnity benefits in cases of disability or death, and the allowance for funeral and burial expenses. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Construction design professional: means any person who is a professional engineer, architect, or land surveyor who is registered under chapter 464 to practice that profession in the State. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of labor and industrial relations. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Director: means the director of labor and industrial relations. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Disability: means loss or impairment of a physical or mental function. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Disciplinary action: means personnel action by an employer in the form of punishment against an employee for infraction of employer or contract rules, in the form of a reprimand, suspension, or discharge. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Employee: means any individual in the employment of another person. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Employer: means any person having one or more persons in the person's employment. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Employment: means any service performed by an individual for another person under any contract of hire or apprenticeship, express or implied, oral or written, whether lawfully or unlawfully entered into. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• 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.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Personal injury: includes death resulting therefrom. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Physician: includes a doctor of medicine, a dentist, a chiropractor, an osteopath, a naturopathic physician, a psychologist, an optometrist, an advanced practice registered nurse, and a podiatrist. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Psychologist: means a licensed clinical psychologist with a doctorate degree in psychology and who either has at least two years clinical experience in a recognized health setting, or has met the standards of the National Register of the Health Service Providers in Psychology. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Recipient of social service payments: includes :

  (1) A person who is an eligible recipient of social services such as attendant care and day care services; and

  (2) A corporation or private agency that contracts directly with the department of human services to provide attendant care and day care authorized under the Social Security Act, as amended. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1

• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Suitable gainful employment: means employment or self-employment within the geographical area where the employee resides, which is reasonably attainable and which offers an opportunity to restore the employee's earnings capacity as nearly as possible to that level which the employee was earning at the time of injury and to return the employee to the active labor force as quickly as possible in a cost-effective manner, giving due consideration to the employee's qualifications, interests, incentives, future earnings capacity, and the present and future labor market. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Wages: means all remuneration for services constituting employment. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Work injury: means a personal injury suffered under the conditions specified in § 386-3. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1