Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes > Chapter 633 - Small Claims, District Courts

• Able to resume work: means an industrially injured worker's injury has stabilized after a period of recovery and the worker is capable of performing work in an occupation for which the worker has received previous training or for which the worker has demonstrated aptitude. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Adjournment sine die: The end of a legislative session "without day." These adjournments are used to indicate the final adjournment of an annual or the two-year session of legislature.
• Advertisement: means any communication, excluding sundry items such as bumper stickers, that:
  (1) Identifies a candidate directly or by implication, or identifies an issue or question that will appear on the ballot at the next applicable election; and
  (2) Advocates or supports the nomination, opposition, or election of the candidate, or advocates the passage or defeat of the issue or question on the ballot. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 11-302
• 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.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• 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.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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.
• Appellate board: means the labor and industrial relations appeals board. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attending physician: means a physician who is primarily responsible for the treatment of a work injury. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Board: means the board of land and natural resources. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 6D-1
• Candidate: means an individual who seeks nomination for election or seeks election to office. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 11-302
• Cave: means any naturally occurring void, cavity, recess, or system of interconnected passages large enough for human entry, occurring beneath the surface of the earth or within a cliff or ledge, including the cave resources therein, whether or not an entrance exists or is natural or artificial, and that is of archaeological, geological, biological, or cultural significance. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 6D-1
• Commercial entry: means an activity undertaken to exhibit a cave for which compensation is received by any person for goods, services, or both, rendered to customers or participants in that use or activity. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 6D-1
• Commission: means the campaign spending commission. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 11-302
• Compensation: means all benefits accorded by this chapter to an employee or the employee's dependents on account of a work injury as defined in this section; it includes medical and rehabilitation benefits, income and indemnity benefits in cases of disability or death, and the allowance for funeral and burial expenses. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Concurrent resolution: A legislative measure, designated "S. Con. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President/Governor and thus do not have the force of law.
• Construction context: means all permitted land-altering activities necessary to construct any and all manner of improvements on the surface of a property including but not limited to foundations, basements, roads, and buildings. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 6D-1
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contribution: means :
  (1) A gift, subscription, deposit of money or anything of value, or cancellation of a debt or legal obligation and includes the purchase of tickets to fundraisers, for the purpose of:

  (A) Influencing the nomination for election, or the election, of any person to office;

  (B) Influencing the outcome of any question or issue that has been certified to appear on the ballot at the next applicable election; or

  (C) Use by any candidate committee or noncandidate committee for the purpose of subparagraph (A) or (B);
  (2) The payment, by any person or party other than a candidate, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee, of compensation for the services of another person that are rendered to the candidate, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee without charge or at an unreasonably low charge for a purpose listed in paragraph (1);
  (3) A contract, promise, or agreement to make a contribution; or
  (4) Any loans or advances that are not documented or disclosed to the commission as provided in section 11-372;

  "Contribution" does not include:

  (1) Services voluntarily provided without compensation by individuals to or on behalf of a candidate, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee;
  (2) A candidate's expenditure of the candidate's own funds; provided that this expenditure shall be reportable as other receipts and expenditures;
  (3) Any loans or advances to the candidate committee; provided that these loans or advances shall be reported as loans; or
  (4) An individual, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee engaging in internet activities for the purpose of influencing an election if:

  (A) The individual, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee is uncompensated for the internet activities; or

  (B) The individual, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee uses equipment or services for uncompensated internet activities, regardless of who owns the equipment and services. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 11-302
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
• Covered employment: means employment of an employee as defined in this section or of a person for whom the employer has provided voluntary coverage pursuant to § 386-4. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of labor and industrial relations. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Director: means the director of labor and industrial relations. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Disability: means loss or impairment of a physical or mental function. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Election: means any election for office or for determining a question or issue provided by law or ordinance. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 11-302
• Employee: means any individual in the employment of another person. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Employee in comparable employment: means a person, other than the injured employee, who is employed in the same grade in the same type of work by the same employer or, if there is no person so employed, a person, who is employed in the same grade in the same type of work by another employer in the same district. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Employer: means any person having one or more persons in the person's employment. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Employment: means any service performed by an individual for another person under any contract of hire or apprenticeship, express or implied, oral or written, whether lawfully or unlawfully entered into. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• 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.
• 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.
• Expenditure: means :
  (1) Any purchase or transfer of money or anything of value, or promise or agreement to purchase or transfer money or anything of value, or payment incurred or made, or the use or consumption of a nonmonetary contribution for the purpose of:

  (A) Influencing the nomination for election, or the election, of any person seeking nomination for election or election to office, whether or not the person has filed the person's nomination papers;

  (B) Influencing the outcome of any question or issue that has been certified to appear on the ballot at the next applicable election; or

  (C) Use by any party for the purposes set out in subparagraph (A) or (B);
  (2) Any payment, by any person other than a candidate, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee, of compensation for the services of another person that are rendered to the candidate, candidate committee, or noncandidate committee for any of the purposes mentioned in paragraph (1)(A); provided that payment under this paragraph shall include provision of services without charge; or
  (3) The expenditure by a candidate of the candidate's own funds for the purposes set out in paragraph (1)(A). See Hawaii Revised Statutes 11-302
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Good cause: means a substantial reason amounting in law to be a legal excuse for failing to perform an act required by law considered under the circumstances of the individual case. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• 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.
• guidelines: means an indication of a suggested criteria, course, or means to a particular end, and not an authoritative or exclusive prescription which limits the exercise of independent judgment, expertise, or care. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Health care provider: means a person qualified by the director to render health care and service and who has a license for the practice of:

  (1) Medicine or osteopathy under chapter 453;

  (2) Dentistry under chapter 448;

  (3) Chiropractic under chapter 442;

  (4) Naturopathic medicine under chapter 455;

  (5) Optometry under chapter 459;

  (6) Podiatry under chapter 463E;

  (7) Psychology under chapter 465; and

  (8) Advanced practice registered nurse under chapter 457. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1

• Individual: means a natural person. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 11-302
• 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.
• 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}
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• 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.
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Noncandidate committee: means an organization, association, party, or individual that has the purpose of making or receiving contributions, making expenditures, or incurring financial obligations to influence the nomination for election, or the election, of any candidate to office, or for or against any question or issue on the ballot; provided that a noncandidate committee does not include:
  (1) A candidate committee;
  (2) Any individual making a contribution or making an expenditure of the individual's own funds or anything of value that the individual originally acquired for the individual's own use and not for the purpose of evading any provision of this part; or
  (3) Any organization that raises or expends funds for the sole purpose of producing and disseminating informational or educational communications that are not made to influence the outcome of an election, question, or issue on a ballot. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 11-302
• 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.
• Office: means any Hawaii elective public or constitutional office, excluding county neighborhood board and federal elective offices. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 11-302
• Owner: means the persons who hold title to or are in possession of the land on or under which a cave is located, or the persons' lessee or agent. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 6D-1
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Party: means any political party that satisfies the requirements of section 11-61. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 11-302
• Person: means an individual, group, partnership, firm, association, corporation, trust, governmental agency, governmental official, administrative body, or tribunal or any form of business or legal entity. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 46-122
• Person: means an individual, a partnership, a candidate committee or noncandidate committee, a party, an association, a corporation, a business entity, an organization, or a labor union and its auxiliary committees. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 11-302
• Personal injury: includes death resulting therefrom. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Physician: includes a doctor of medicine, a dentist, a chiropractor, an osteopath, a naturopathic physician, a psychologist, an optometrist, an advanced practice registered nurse, and a podiatrist. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Premises: shall include but not be limited to a lodging or tenement house, group residence, group living arrangement, hotel, boardinghouse, or restaurant as further defined in § 445-90, or any other like facility serving unsupervised or unrelated individuals. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 46-15.6
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Public nuisances: shall include but not be limited to the placement of structures, stalls, stands, furniture, and containers on streets, sidewalks, and public places where the placement of structures, stalls, stands, furniture, and containers are inconsistent with or frustrate the purpose, function, or activity for which the street, sidewalk, or public place was intended. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 46-15.6
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Scientific purposes: means research, or exploration, or both, conducted by persons affiliated with recognized scientific organizations with the intent to advance knowledge and to publish the results of exploration or research in an appropriate medium. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 6D-1
• 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 average weekly wage: means the amount determined by the director under section 383-22 as the average weekly wage. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Suitable gainful employment: means employment or self-employment within the geographical area where the employee resides, which is reasonably attainable and which offers an opportunity to restore the employee's earnings capacity as nearly as possible to that level which the employee was earning at the time of injury and to return the employee to the active labor force as quickly as possible in a cost-effective manner, giving due consideration to the employee's qualifications, interests, incentives, future earnings capacity, and the present and future labor market. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• 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.
• Total disability: means disability of such an extent that the disabled employee has no reasonable prospect of finding regular employment of any kind in the normal labor market. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• 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.
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• Usual and customary employment: means the line or type of work in the gainful employment market consistent with a claimant's background, training, and experience. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Vocational rehabilitation plan: means an approved plan prepared by a certified rehabilitation provider with an employee that is designed to assist the employee in obtaining and maintaining suitable gainful employment. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Vocational rehabilitation services: means services provided in a rehabilitation program to assist an employee in obtaining and maintaining suitable gainful employment that may include but shall not be limited to on-the-job training, job modification, vocational evaluation, adjustment to disability, counseling, guidance, vocational and personal adjustment, referrals, transportation, training, supplies, equipment, appliances, aid, occupational licenses, and other goods and services needed to assist an employee in obtaining and maintaining suitable gainful employment. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Wages: means all remuneration for services constituting employment. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
• Work injury: means a personal injury suffered under the conditions specified in § 386-3. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1