Civil Law
Procedure of Civil Cases
Vocabulary you should know...
Defendant - Person who is being accused by the plaintiff
Complaint - document which tells the defendant what he's being charged with
Summons - letting the defendant know when to appear in court to answer the plaintiff complaint
Pleadings - complaint of the plaintiff and the answer of the defendant put together
Pretrial Conference - Meeting of the judge and the lawyers to discuss which matters should be presented to the jury
Mediation - Intervention in a dispute in order to solve it
Arbitration - a decision to be issued after both parties have been heard
Trail - The process of disputing a case and bringing as much evidence as possible
preponderance of evidence - accuracy of the evidence found
appeal - request to be heard by a higher court thinking the lower court did something wrong with the case
verdict - final decision, either found innocent or guilty