Terms Used In Louisiana Codes > Code of Civil Procedure > BOOK VII > Title XI > Chapter 1 - General Dispositions

• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• 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.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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}
• Lease: means any oral or written lease, and includes a sublease;

  "Lessee" includes a sublessee, whether the person seeking to evict is a lessor or sublessor; and an assignee of a lessee;

  "Lessor" includes a sublessor, assignee, or transferee;

  "Occupant" includes a sharecropper; half hand; day laborer; former owner; and any person occupying immovable property by permission or accommodation of the owner, former owner, or another occupant, except a mineral lessee, owner of a mineral servitude, or a lessee of the owner;

  "Owner" includes a lessee; and

  "Premises" includes the land and all buildings and improvements thereon leased by a tenant, or possessed by an occupant. See Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure 4704

• Lessee: includes a sublessee, whether the person seeking to evict is a lessor or sublessor; and an assignee of a lessee;

  "Lessor" includes a sublessor, assignee, or transferee;

  "Occupant" includes a sharecropper; half hand; day laborer; former owner; and any person occupying immovable property by permission or accommodation of the owner, former owner, or another occupant, except a mineral lessee, owner of a mineral servitude, or a lessee of the owner;

  "Owner" includes a lessee; and

  "Premises" includes the land and all buildings and improvements thereon leased by a tenant, or possessed by an occupant. See Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure 4704

• 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.
• 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.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.