Terms Used In 15 CFR Part 786 - Records and Recordkeeping

• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Assistant U.S. Attorney: A federal prosecutor who represents the U.S. government and its citizens when a federal statute has been violated.
• CBP: means U. See 19 CFR 101.1
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Date of importation: means , in the case of merchandise imported otherwise than by vessel, the date on which the merchandise arrives within the Customs territory of the United States. See 19 CFR 101.1
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Duties: means Customs duties and any internal revenue taxes which attach upon importation. See 19 CFR 101.1
• 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.
• Exportation: means a severance of goods from the mass of things belonging to this country with the intention of uniting them to the mass of things belonging to some foreign country. See 19 CFR 101.1
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• United States: includes all territories and possessions of the United States, except the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Wake Island, Midway Islands, Kingman Reef, Johnston Island, and the island of Guam. See 19 CFR 134.1