Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 15.2 > Subtitle III > Chapter 30 - Special Courts

• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Governing board: includes the State Board and the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• Insurer: means an insurance company. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Person: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, company, corporation, individual, joint-stock company, Lloyds type of organization, organization, partnership, receiver, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, trustee or society. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Private institution of higher education: includes each nonprofit private institution of higher education and proprietary private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public institution of higher education: includes the System as a whole and each associate-degree-granting and baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Rate service organization: means any organization or person, other than a joint underwriting association under § 38. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: means any commonwealth, state, territory, district or insular possession of the United States. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249
• System: means the Virginia Community College System. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.