Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes > Chapter 571 - Family Courts

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• Administrative monitoring: means a legal status of a child adjudicated for a status offense or a law violation who is not placed on legal status, but is ordered by the court to complete a discrete, small number of conditions within a short time period, and without regular court appearances. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Adult: means a person eighteen years of age or older. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• 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
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Board: means the board of family court judges. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Case plan: means a plan designed to ensure that a child on probation receives services and programming to achieve rehabilitation, proper care, and case management. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Coordinated services: means treatment, education, care, services, and other resources provided by one or more distinct state or local agencies in a coordinated manner for a child who is involved with two or more youth-serving agencies. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
• Court: means one of the family courts as herein established. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• deployed: means military services performed in compliance with a valid order received by an active duty or reserve member of the armed forces of the United States or National Guard to report for combat operations, contingency operations, peacekeeping operations, temporary duty greater than sixty days, a remote tour of duty, or other active service for which the deploying parent reports unaccompanied by any family member. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-91
• deployed parent: means a legal parent or a legal guardian of a child under the age of eighteen, who is deployed, will likely deploy within the next sixty days, or who has received written orders to deploy. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-91
• 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.
• Detention: means the temporary care of children who require custody in physically secure facilities:

  (1) For their immediate welfare;

  (2) For the protection of the community;

  (3) While awaiting transfer to another jurisdiction; or

  (4) Because of violation of a family court order of probation or protective supervision. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2

• Developmental disability: means a severe, chronic disability of an individual that:

  (1) Is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination of mental and physical impairments;

  (2) Is manifested before the individual attains age twenty-two;

  (3) Is likely to continue indefinitely;

  (4) Results in substantial functional limitations in three or more of the following areas of major life activity:

  (A) Self-care;

  (B) Receptive and expressive language;

  (C) Learning;

  (D) Mobility;

  (E) Self-direction;

  (F) Capacity for independent living; or

  (G) Economic self-sufficiency; and

  (5) Reflects the individual's need for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or generic services, individualized supports, or other forms of assistance that are of lifelong or extended duration and are individually planned and coordinated. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 349-31

• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Electronic communication: means communication that is facilitated by any wired or wireless technology via the Internet or any other electronic media, including but not limited to communication by telephone, electronic mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, and web camera. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• 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.
• Evidence-based practices: means supervision policies, procedures, and practices, as well as treatment and intervention programs, that research demonstrates are likely to reduce delinquency amongst children in the juvenile justice system. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Extradition: The formal process of delivering an accused or convicted person from authorities in one state to authorities in another state.
• Family violence: means the occurrence of one or more of the following acts by a family or household member, but does not include acts of self-defense:

  (1) Attempting to cause or causing physical harm to another family or household member;

  (2) Placing a family or household member in fear of physical harm; or

  (3) Causing a family or household member to engage involuntarily in sexual activity by force, threat of force, or duress. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2

• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Home visit: means an announced or unannounced visit to a child's place of residence, conducted by the child's probation officer. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• immediate welfare: means :
  (1) The minor is in physical, emotional, or psychological danger, or may be prior to the court's disposition;
  (2) No parent or other responsible adult known to the decision-maker is willing and able to provide the type and degree of supervision necessary to protect the minor from that danger;
  (3) No other secure facility is appropriate and available. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-31.1
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Informal adjustment: means the effort by intake officers, the courts, or others to provide a child referred to them or brought before them, and where appropriate that child's family, opportunity and aid before and in lieu of formally processing the child under this chapter. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Intellectual disability: means a person's attributes or characteristics that demonstrate a limitation in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical skills, which are apparent prior to the age of eighteen. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 349-31
• Interdepartmental cluster: means the regular coordination of several agencies, directed by the judiciary, to more efficiently provide services for high-need, court-involved children. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Judge: means judge of the family court. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• 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.
• Legal custody: means the relationship created by the court's decree which imposes on the custodian the responsibility of physical possession of the minor and the duty to protect, train, and discipline the minor and to provide the minor with food, shelter, education, and ordinary medical care, all subject to residual parental rights and responsibilities and the rights and responsibilities of any legally appointed guardian of the person. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• 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.
• Long-term supports and services: means the broad range of assistance and care needed by older persons or persons with physical or mental disabilities who have lost or never acquired the ability to function independently. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 349-31
• Meaningful contact: means parent and child interactions, activities, and experiences, performed together, which nurture the parent-child attachment and relationship, while contributing to the child's development in a positive and effective manner. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• minor: means a person less than eighteen years of age. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• month: means a calendar month; and the word "year" a calendar year. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-20
• oath: includes a solemn affirmation. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-21
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• Other parent: means the legal parent or legal guardian other than the deploying parent. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-91
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Probation: means a legal status created by court order following adjudication in a case involving a violation of law whereby a minor is permitted to remain in the minor's home or in a community residential or nonresidential program subject to supervision by the court or an agency designated by the court and subject to return to the court for violation of probation at any time during the period of probation. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Probation officers: Screen applicants for pretrial release and monitor convicted offenders released under court supervision.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• protection of the community: means there is a threat to, and a necessity to protect, the person or property of others from:
  (1) A minor who is alleged to have committed an offense which caused physical harm, or a threat of physical harm, to another person; or
  (2) A minor who is alleged to have committed an offense which caused damage to, or theft of, property; and

  (A) The minor's record reveals a pattern of behavior which has caused damage to, or loss of, property; and

  (B) Previous control measures have failed. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-31.1
• Protective supervision: means a legal status created by court order in proceedings not involving violations of law but where the legal custody of the minor is subject to change, whereby the minor is permitted to remain in the minor's home or in a community residential or nonresidential program under the supervision of the court or an agency designated by the court and subject to return to the court during the period of protective supervision. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Residual parental rights and responsibilities: means those rights and responsibilities remaining with the parent after the transfer of legal custody or guardianship of the person, including, but not necessarily limited to, the right to reasonable visitation, consent to adoption or marriage, and the responsibility for support. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Risk and needs assessment: means a determination, based on an actuarial tool validated on Hawaii's juvenile justice system-involved population, of specific factors that predict a child's likelihood of recidivating and criminogenic factors that, when properly addressed, can reduce the likelihood of recidivating. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Senior judge: means the judge so designated, as provided in this chapter. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Shelter: means the temporary care of children in physically unrestricting facilities pending court disposition. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Statewide cluster: means the statewide juvenile justice interdepartmental cluster as established under section 571-86. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.