Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes > Chapter 388 > Part I

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• 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.
• Affiliate: means :

  (1) A person who directly or indirectly owns, controls, or holds with power to vote, twenty or more per cent of the outstanding voting securities of the debtor, other than a person who holds the securities:

  (A) As a fiduciary or agent without sole discretionary power to vote the securities; or

  (B) Solely to secure a debt, if the person has not in fact exercised the power to vote;

  (2) A corporation, twenty or more per cent of whose outstanding voting securities are directly or indirectly owned, controlled, or held with power to vote, by the debtor, or by a person who directly or indirectly owns, controls, or holds with power to vote, twenty or more per cent of the outstanding voting securities of the debtor, other than a person who holds the securities:

  (A) As a fiduciary or agent without sole discretionary power to vote the securities; or

  (B) Solely to secure a debt, if the person has not in fact exercised the power to vote;

  (3) A person whose business is operated by the debtor under a lease or other agreement, or a person substantially all of whose assets are controlled by the debtor; or

  (4) A person who operates the debtor's business under a lease or other agreement or controls substantially all of the debtor's assets. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651C-1

• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Asset: means property of a debtor but does not include:

  (1) Property to the extent that it is encumbered by a valid lien;

  (2) Property to the extent that it is generally exempt under nonbankruptcy law; or

  (3) An interest in property held in tenancy by the entireties to the extent that it is not subject to process by a creditor holding a claim against only one tenant. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651C-1

• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Claim: means a right to payment, whether or not the right is reduced to judgment, liquidated, unliquidated, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, legal, equitable, secured, or unsecured. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651C-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.
• 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.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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
• Creditor: means a person who has a claim against a debtor. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651C-1
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Debt: means liability on a claim. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651C-1
• Debtor: means a person against whom a creditor has a claim. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651C-1
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Director: means the director of labor and industrial relations. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-1
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Electronic transfer: includes but is not limited to point-of-sale transfers, automated teller machine transactions, direct deposits or withdrawals of funds, and transfers initiated by a telephone conversation. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-1
• Employee: includes any person suffered or permitted to work. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-1
• Employer: includes any individual; partnership; association; joint-stock company; trust; corporation; the personal representative of the estate of a deceased individual or the receiver, trustee, or successor of any of the same; general contractor, for purposes of wages owed to the employees of a subcontractor, as those terms are defined in section 388-11. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-1
• 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.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Insider: includes :

  (1) If the debtor is an individual:

  (A) A relative of the debtor or of a general partner of the debtor;

  (B) A partnership in which the debtor is a general partner;

  (C) A general partner in a partnership described in subparagraph (B); or

  (D) A corporation of which the debtor is a director, officer, or person in control;

  (2) If the debtor is a corporation:

  (A) A director of the debtor;

  (B) An officer of the debtor;

  (C) A person in control of the debtor;

  (D) A partnership in which the debtor is a general partner;

  (E) A general partner in a partnership described in subparagraph (D); or

  (F) A relative of a general partner, director, officer, or person in control of the debtor;

  (3) If the debtor is a partnership:

  (A) A general partner of the debtor;

  (B) A relative of a general partner in, of a general partner of, or of a person in control of the debtor;

  (C) Another partnership in which the debtor is a general partner;

  (D) A general partner in a partnership described in subparagraph (C); or

  (E) A person in control of the debtor;

  (4) An affiliate, or an insider of an affiliate as if the affiliate were the debtor; and

  (5) A managing agent of the debtor. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651C-1

• Issuer: means the pay card issuer authorized to accept deposits and whose deposits are federally insured, and includes a person acting as a direct or indirect agent or administrator of an issuer. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-1
• 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.
• 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}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Lien: means a charge against or an interest in property to secure payment of a debt or performance of an obligation, including a security interest created by agreement, a judicial lien obtained by legal or equitable process or proceedings, a common-law lien, or a statutory lien. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651C-1
• month: means a calendar month; and the word "year" a calendar year. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-20
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• oath: includes a solemn affirmation. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-21
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• Pay card: means a prepaid debit card distributed to an employee by an employer, or by another entity by arrangement with the employer, through which the employer provides the employee access to the employee's wages and is:
  (1) Issued by a federally insured depository institution authorized to accept deposits; and
  (2) Used by an employee to access wages from a pay card account and is redeemable at multiple unaffiliated merchants or service providers or automated teller machines. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-1
• Pay card account: means an account that is directly or indirectly established by an employer and to which transfers of the employee's wages are made. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-1
• Pay card fee schedule: means a written list of fees that may be charged to an employee by an issuer in connection with a pay card account or an explanation of how the fees will be determined. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-1
• Person: means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651C-1
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• police officer: means the director of law enforcement or the director's duly authorized representative, any chief of police or subordinate police officer, or an independent civil process server on the list maintained by the department of law enforcement pursuant to section 353C-1. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651-1
• 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.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651C-1
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Relative: means an individual related within the third degree as determined by the common law, a spouse, or an individual related to a spouse within the third degree as so determined, and includes an individual in an adoptive relationship within the third degree. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651C-1
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Transfer: means every mode, direct or indirect, absolute or conditional, voluntary or involuntary, of disposing of or parting with an asset or an interest in an asset, and includes a payment of money, a release, a lease, and the creation of a lien or encumbrance. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 651C-1
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Wages: means compensation for labor or services rendered by an employee, whether the amount is determined on a time, task, piece, commission, or other basis of calculation. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 388-1
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.