Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes > Chapter 663 - Tort Actions

• 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.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Articles of incorporation: include amended and restated articles of incorporation and articles of merger. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 414-3
• 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 663-51
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
• 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.
• Deliver: includes mail. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 414-3
• Department director: means the director of commerce and consumer affairs, unless the context otherwise requires. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 414-3
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Entity: includes domestic and foreign corporations, domestic professional corporations, domestic and foreign limited liability companies, domestic and foreign nonprofit corporations, domestic and foreign business trusts, estates, domestic and foreign partnerships, domestic and foreign limited partnerships, domestic and foreign limited liability partnerships, trusts, two or more persons having a joint or common economic interest, associations and cooperative associations, and state, federal, and foreign governments. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 414-3
• 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.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• 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.
• Improved public lands: means lands designated as part of the state park system, parks, and parkways under chapter 184, or as part of a county's park system, and lands which are part of the Hawaii statewide trail and access system under chapter 198D, excluding buildings and structures constructed upon such lands. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 663-51
• 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.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• 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.
• Merger: means the procedure authorized by this part in which one domestic or foreign entity combines with one or more domestic or foreign entities resulting in either one surviving entity or one new entity. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 414-310
• 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.
• Organizing articles: means :

  (1) For an association, corporation, or nonprofit corporation, the articles of incorporation;

  (2) For a general partnership or limited liability partnership, the registration statement;

  (3) For a limited partnership, the certificate of limited partnership; and

  (4) For a limited liability company, the articles of organization. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 414-310

• 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.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Proceeding: includes civil suit and criminal, administrative, and investigatory action. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 414-3
• 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.
• Shareholder: means the person in whose name shares are registered in the records of a corporation or the beneficial owner of shares to the extent of the rights granted by a nominee certificate on file with a corporation. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 414-3
• Shares: means the units into which the proprietary interests in a corporation are divided. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 414-3
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• 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.
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Voting group: means all shares of one or more classes or series that under the articles of incorporation or this chapter are entitled to vote and be counted together collectively on a matter at a meeting of shareholders. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 414-3