Terms Used In New York Laws > Civil Practice Law and Rules > Article 72 - Recovery of Penalty or Forfeiture

• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• 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.
• Owner: means the owner of the premises, or the lessee of the whole thereof, or the agent in charge of the property. See N.Y. Labor Law 315
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.