Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 46 > Article 2 > Part 3 - General Obligation and Construction of Contract

• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Agency: means any department, office, commission, board, or other unit, however designated, of the executive branch of state government. See West Virginia Code 5A-8-3
• Agency Records Manager: means an employee appointed by the agency's chief executive officer or agency head to manage the agency's records inventory and to act as liaison with the administrator. See West Virginia Code 5A-8-3
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Buyer: means a person who buys or contracts to buy goods. See West Virginia Code 46-2-103
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contract for sale: includes both a present sale of goods and a contract to sell goods at a future time. See West Virginia Code 46-2-106
• 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.
• Disaster: means any occurrence of fire, flood, storm, earthquake, explosion, epidemic, riot, sabotage, or other condition of extreme peril resulting in substantial damage or injury to persons or property within this state, whether such occurrence is caused by an act of God, nature, or man, including an enemy of the United States. See West Virginia Code 5A-8-3
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• 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}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• 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.
• Preservation duplicate: means a copy of an essential state record which is used for the purpose of preserving such state record pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 5A-8-3
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, all rights thereto and interests therein, except chattel interests. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Record: means document, electronic file, book, paper, photograph, sound recording, or other material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official state government business. See West Virginia Code 5A-8-3
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Seller: means a person who sells or contracts to sell goods. See West Virginia Code 46-2-103
• 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: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• State record: means :

  (A) A record of a department, office, commission, board, spending unit, or other agency, however designated, of the state government. See West Virginia Code 5A-8-3

• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.