Terms Used In Arizona Laws > Title 28 > Chapter 9 > Article 1 - General Provisions

• Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• 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.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the department of transportation acting directly or through its duly authorized officers and agents. See Arizona Laws 28-101
• Director: means the director of the department of transportation. See Arizona Laws 28-101
• Driver: means a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Arizona Laws 28-101
• 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.
• including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Judgment: means a judgment that has become final by expiration without appeal of the time within which an appeal might have been perfected or by final affirmation on appeal and that is rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction of any state or of the United States on a cause of action either:

  (a) Arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle for damages, including damages for care and loss of services, because of either bodily injury to or death of a person or injury to or destruction of property, including the loss of use of the property. See Arizona Laws 28-4001

• 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.
• License: means a license, temporary instruction permit or temporary license issued under the laws of this state pertaining to the licensing of persons to operate motor vehicles. See Arizona Laws 28-4001
• Month: means a calendar month unless otherwise expressed. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Motor vehicle: means a self-propelled vehicle that is registered or required to be registered under the laws of this state. See Arizona Laws 28-4001
• Motor vehicle liability policy: means an owner's or an operator's policy of liability insurance that is both:

  (a) Certified as provided in section 28-4077 or 28-4078 as proof of financial responsibility. See Arizona Laws 28-4001

• Nonresident: means a person who is not a resident of this state as defined in section 28-2001. See Arizona Laws 28-101
• Operator: means a person who is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle, whether or not the person has a license. See Arizona Laws 28-4001
• Owner: means :

  (a) A person who holds the legal title of a vehicle. See Arizona Laws 28-101

• Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Proof of financial responsibility: means proof of ability to respond in damages for liability on account of accidents occurring after the effective date of the proof and arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle, in the amounts required by section 28-4009 or 28-4033. See Arizona Laws 28-4001
• Property: includes both real and personal property. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Registration: means the registration certificate or certificates and license plates issued under the laws of this state pertaining to the registration of motor vehicles. See Arizona Laws 28-4001
• 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 a state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia or a province of the Dominion of Canada. See Arizona Laws 28-4001
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Writing: includes printing. See Arizona Laws 1-215