Terms Used In Maryland Code, COURTS AND JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS 12-602

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • state: means :

    (1) a state, possession, territory, or commonwealth of the United States; or

    (2) the District of Columbia. See
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
The Court of Appeals or the Court of Special Appeals of this State, on the motion of a party to pending litigation or its own motion, may certify a question of law to the highest court of another state or of a tribe if:

(1) The pending litigation involves a question to be decided under the law of the other jurisdiction;

(2) The answer to the question may be determinative of an issue in the pending litigation; and

(3) The question is one for which an answer is not provided by a controlling appellate decision, constitutional provision, or statute of the other jurisdiction.