Terms Used In Louisiana Codes > Civil Code > PRELIMINARY TITLE > Title IV - Conventional Obligations or Contracts

• Abuse: means any of the following acts that seriously endanger the physical, mental, or emotional health, welfare, and safety of the child:

              (a) The infliction or attempted infliction, or, as a result of inadequate supervision, the allowance or toleration of the infliction or attempted infliction of physical or mental injury upon the child by a parent or any other person. See Louisiana Children's Code 1003

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• Affected court: means any appellate, district, parish, city, municipal, traffic, juvenile, justice of the peace, or family court having jurisdiction over criminal prosecutions and proceedings for which the Louisiana Supreme Court has made a determination that the court shall conduct emergency sessions outside its parish or territorial jurisdiction as provided for by the provisions of this Title. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 942
• Agency: shall include the Department of Children and Family Services, the corresponding department of any other state, and those private agencies and institutions licensed for the placement of children for adoption by the Department of Children and Family Services or by the corresponding department of any other state. See Louisiana Children's Code 1003
• Agency: includes the Department of Children and Family Services, the corresponding department of any other state, and those private agencies and institutions licensed for the placement of children for adoption by the Department of Children and Family Services or by the corresponding department of any other state. See Louisiana Children's Code 1103
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• application for post conviction relief: means a petition filed by a person in custody after sentence following conviction for the commission of an offense seeking to have the conviction and sentence set aside. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 924
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arraignment: A proceeding in which an individual who is accused of committing a crime is brought into court, told of the charges, and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• 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.
• Birth certificate: means the child's official birth certificate or a true copy of a prefiled version of the birth certificate in the event the official birth certificate has not yet been issued. See Louisiana Children's Code 1103
• Capital offense: A crime punishable by death.
• Caretaker: means any person providing a residence for the child or any person legally obligated to provide or secure adequate care for the child, including a parent, tutor, guardian, or legal custodian. See Louisiana Children's Code 728
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Child: means a person under eighteen years of age who, prior to proceedings under this Title, has not been judicially emancipated or emancipated by marriage. See Louisiana Children's Code 728
• Child: means any person under the age of twenty-one, including an emancipated minor, who commits a delinquent act before attaining seventeen years of age. See Louisiana Children's Code 804
• Child: means a person under eighteen years of age and not emancipated by marriage. See Louisiana Children's Code 1103
• Child care institution: means a nonprofit, licensed private or public institution which accommodates no more than twenty-five children and which is not a detention facility, a forestry camp, a training school, or any other facility operated primarily for the detention of children who are determined to be delinquent. See Louisiana Children's Code 804
• Child in need of care: means a child adjudicated as such under Title VI. See Louisiana Children's Code 1003
• Circumstantial evidence: All evidence except eyewitness testimony.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• 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.
• Custody: means detention or confinement, or probation or parole supervision, after sentence following conviction for the commission of an offense. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 924
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Delinquent act: means an act committed by a child of ten years of age or older which if committed by an adult is designated an offense under the statutes or ordinances of this state, or of another state if the offense occurred there, or under federal law, except traffic violations. See Louisiana Children's Code 804
• Delinquent child: means a child who has committed a delinquent act. See Louisiana Children's Code 804
• Department: means the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services. See Louisiana Children's Code 1003
• Department: means the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services. See Louisiana Children's Code 1103
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• DNA testing: means any method of testing and comparing deoxyribonucleic acid that would be admissible under the Louisiana Code of Evidence. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 924
• Donee: The recipient of a gift.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Emergency sessions: means any criminal court proceeding conducted by an affected court as authorized by the provisions of this Title and by order of the Louisiana Supreme Court. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 942
• Enrolled bill: The final copy of a bill or joint resolution which has passed both chambers in identical form. It is printed on parchment paper, signed by appropriate officials, and submitted to the President/Governor for signature.
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• 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}
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Expunge a record: means to remove a record of arrest or conviction, photographs, fingerprints, disposition, or any other information of any kind from public access pursuant to the provisions of this Title. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 972
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Felony-grade delinquent act: means an offense that if committed by an adult, may be punished by death or by imprisonment at hard labor. See Louisiana Children's Code 804
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Firearm: means any pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, machine gun, submachine gun, black powder weapon, or assault rifle which is designed to fire or is capable of firing fixed cartridge ammunition or from which a shot or projectile is discharged by an explosive. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 1001
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• Host jurisdiction: means the location or locations in which the Louisiana Supreme Court has ordered the affected court to conduct emergency sessions. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 942
• Impeachment: (1) The process of calling something into question, as in "impeaching the testimony of a witness." (2) The constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may "impeach" (accuse of misconduct) high officers of the federal government for trial in the Senate.
• In forma pauperis: In the manner of a pauper. Permission given to a person to sue without payment of court fees on claim of indigence or poverty.
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• 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.
• Insanity: means a mental disease or mental illness which renders the child incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong with reference to the conduct in question, as a result of which the child is exempt from criminal responsibility. See Louisiana Children's Code 804
• Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
• Interim expungement: means to expunge a felony arrest from the criminal history of a person who was convicted of a misdemeanor offense arising out of the original felony arrest. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 972
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• Jurisprudence: The study of law and the structure of the legal system.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• 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}
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Mental deficiency: means significantly subaverage intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior, as determined by a psychiatrist or psychologist and manifested during the developmental period. See Louisiana Children's Code 1003
• Mental illness: means a psychiatric disorder which has substantial adverse effects on the parent's ability to function and which requires care and treatment as determined by a psychiatrist or psychologist. See Louisiana Children's Code 1003
• Mental incapacity to proceed: means that, as a result of mental illness or developmental disability, a child presently lacks the capacity to understand the nature of the proceedings against him or to assist in his defense. See Louisiana Children's Code 804
• Misdemeanor-grade delinquent act: means any offense which if committed by an adult is other than a felony and includes the violation of an ordinance providing a penal sanction. See Louisiana Children's Code 804
• Mistrial: An invalid trial, caused by fundamental error. When a mistrial is declared, the trial must start again from the selection of the jury.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• Neglect: means the refusal or failure of a parent or caretaker to supply the child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, care, treatment, or counseling for any injury, illness, or condition of the child, as a result of which the child's physical, mental, or emotional health, welfare, and safety is substantially threatened or impaired. See Louisiana Children's Code 1003
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• 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.
• Other law enforcement agency: shall include any local or municipal police force, the constable, and state police. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 1001
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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.
• Permanent placement: means either placement of the child with a legal guardian or placement of the child with adoptive parents pursuant to a final decree of adoption. See Louisiana Children's Code 1003
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Petit jury: A group of citizens who hear the evidence presented by both sides at trial and determine the facts in dispute. Federal criminal juries consist of 12 persons. Federal civil juries consist of six persons.
• 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.
• Plea agreement: An arrangement between the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for special considerations. ^Source:
• 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.
• Preliminary hearing: A hearing where the judge decides whether there is enough evidence to make the defendant have a trial.
• Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Probation officers: Screen applicants for pretrial release and monitor convicted offenders released under court supervision.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Putative father registry: means the Louisiana putative father registry established in Part I-C of Chapter 1 of Code Title VII of Code Book I of Title 9 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, comprised of La. See Louisiana Children's Code 1103
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Records: includes any incident reports, photographs, fingerprints, disposition, or any other such information of any kind in relation to a single arrest event in the possession of the clerk of court, any criminal justice agency, and local and state law enforcement agencies but shall not include DNA records. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 972
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• 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.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Runaway: means the continued absence of the child from the home of his caretaker without the caretaker's consent. See Louisiana Children's Code 728
• Sequester: To separate. Sometimes juries are sequestered from outside influences during their deliberations.
• Sheriff: means the sheriff of the jurisdiction in which the order was issued, unless the person resides outside of the jurisdiction in which the order is issued. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 1001
• Starvation: means mistreatment causing suffering from extreme hunger or malnourishment. See Louisiana Children's Code 1003
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testate: To die leaving a will.
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Torture: means torment, maiming, mutilation, or ritualistic or malicious acts causing extreme and unjustifiable physical or mental pain or suffering, disfigurement, or injury. See Louisiana Children's Code 1003
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Truant: means the repeated or habitual unauthorized absence or tardiness of a child from school pursuant to the provisions of La. See Louisiana Children's Code 728
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Ungovernable: means the child's habitual disregard of the lawful and reasonable demands of his caretakers and that the child is beyond their control. See Louisiana Children's Code 728
• Unknown sample: means a biological sample from an unknown donor constituting evidence of the commission of an offense or tending to prove the identity of the perpetrator of an offense. See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure 924
• Usury: Charging an illegally high interest rate on a loan. ^{Source: OCC}
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Victim advocate: work with prosecutors and assist the victims of a crime.
• Victim Impact Statement: A written or spoken statement by the victim or his or her representative about the physical, emotional, and financial impact of a crime on the victim. The statement is given to the court before sentencing.
• Voir dire: The process by which judges and lawyers select a petit jury from among those eligible to serve, by questioning them to determine knowledge of the facts of the case and a willingness to decide the case only on the evidence presented in court. "Voir dire" is a phrase meaning "to speak the truth."