Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 16 > Chapter 9 > Article 4 - Interference With Judicial Process

• 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.
• agricultural products: shall include horticultural, viticultural, forestry, dairy, livestock, poultry, bee and any other farm products;
  
  (2) The term "member" shall include actual members of associations without capital stock and holders of common stock in associations organized with capital stock; and
  
  (3) The term "association" means any corporation organized under this chapter. See South Carolina Code 33-47-20
• 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.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Art merchant: means a person who:
  
  (1) deals in fine prints to which this article is applicable; or
  
  (2) by his occupation holds himself out as having knowledge or skill peculiar to such works; or
  
  (3) to whom such knowledge or skill may be attributed by his employment of an agent or other intermediary who by his occupation holds himself out as having such knowledge or skill; or
  
  (4) is a professional auctioneer who holds himself out as having knowledge or skill peculiar to fine prints to which this article is applicable and who sells these works at public auctions. See South Carolina Code 39-16-10
• Articles of incorporation: includes the articles of conversion of a converted corporation. See South Carolina Code 33-49-20
• Articles of incorporation: means the articles of conversion of a corporation converted to a telephone cooperative pursuant to Article 8 of this chapter. See South Carolina Code 33-46-20
• Artist: means any person who conceived or created:
  
  (1) the master image for a fine print; or
  
  (2) the master image which served as the model for a fine print. See South Carolina Code 39-16-10
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• association: means any corporation organized under this chapter. See South Carolina Code 33-47-20
• 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}
• Broadband affiliate: is a s defined in § 58-9-3010(2). See South Carolina Code 33-49-20
• 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.
• Commission: means the South Carolina Public Service Commission. See South Carolina Code 33-49-20
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture of South Carolina. See South Carolina Code 39-9-20
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• 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.
• 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.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• 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.
• 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.
• Fine print: means a printed image on paper or any other suitable substance which has been taken off a plate by printing, stamping, casting, or any other process commonly used in the graphic arts and includes engraving, etching, woodcut, lithograph, or serigraph. See South Carolina Code 39-16-10
• 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.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Just compensation: means the cash payment of the fair market value of the off-premises outdoor advertising sign in place immediately before its removal and without consideration of the effect of the ordinance or a diminution in value caused by the ordinance requiring its removal. See South Carolina Code 39-14-20
• 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}
• 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.
• Local governing body: means a municipality, county, local zoning authority, or political subdivision. See South Carolina Code 39-14-20
• Member: means each incorporator of a cooperative and each person admitted to and retaining membership therein and shall include a husband and wife admitted to joint membership. See South Carolina Code 33-49-20
• Misappropriation: means :
  
  (a) acquisition of a trade secret of another by a person by improper means;
  
  (b) acquisition of a trade secret of another by a person who knows or has reason to know that the trade secret was acquired by improper means; or
  
  (c) disclosure or use of a trade secret of another without express or implied consent by a person who:
  
  (i) used improper means to acquire knowledge of the trade secret; or
  
  (ii) at the time of disclosure or use, knew or had reason to know that his knowledge of the trade secret was:
  
  (A) derived from or through a person who had utilized improper means to acquire it;
  
  (B) acquired by mistake or under circumstances giving rise to a duty to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or
  
  (C) derived from or through a person who owed a duty to the person seeking relief to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or
  
  (iii) before a material change of his position, knew or had reason to know that it was a trade secret and that knowledge of it had been acquired by accident or mistake. See South Carolina Code 39-8-20
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Net weight: means the weight of a commodity excluding materials, substances, or items not considered to be part of the commodity. See South Carolina Code 39-9-20
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Off-premises outdoor advertising sign: means a lawfully erected, permanent sign which relates in its subject matter to products, accommodations, services, or activities sold or offered elsewhere other than upon the premises on which the sign is located. See South Carolina Code 39-14-20
• Owner: means the person or entity in whom or in which rightful legal or equitable title to the trade secret is reposed. See South Carolina Code 39-8-20
• 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.
• Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or any other legal or commercial entity. See South Carolina Code 39-8-20
• Person: means both plural and singular, as applicable, and includes individuals, partnerships, corporations, companies, societies, and associations. See South Carolina Code 39-9-20
• Person: means an individual, auctioneer, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity that does not have the knowledge or skill of an art merchant as described in § 39-16-10(d). See South Carolina Code 39-16-10
• Person: includes any natural person, firm, association, corporation, business trust, partnership, federal agency, state or political subdivision or agency thereof, or any body politic. See South Carolina Code 33-49-20
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Petit jury: A group of citizens who hear the evidence presented by both sides at trial and determine the facts in dispute. Federal criminal juries consist of 12 persons. Federal civil juries consist of six persons.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plate: means a plate, stone, block, or other material used to create a fine print or from which a fine print is taken. See South Carolina Code 39-16-10
• 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.
• Primary standards: means the physical standards of South Carolina which serve as the legal reference from which all other standards and weights and measures are derived. See South Carolina Code 39-9-20
• Print: means a fine print. See South Carolina Code 39-16-10
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• 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.
• Secondary standards: means the physical standards traceable to the primary standards through comparisons using acceptable laboratory procedures and used in the enforcement of weights and measures law and regulations. See South Carolina Code 39-9-20
• 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.
• Sign owner: means the owner of an off-premises outdoor advertising sign. See South Carolina Code 39-14-20
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Telephone cooperative: means a corporation which is financed, now or formerly, in whole or in part by the Department of Agriculture made under the provisions of the Rural Electric Act of 1936, Title 26, Section 922 of the United States Code, and acts amendatory thereto for the purposes of owning or operating in this State equipment or facilities for the transmission of intelligence through a communication service system including, but not limited to, telephone services, mobile radio, and cable television on a cooperative basis as is tax exempt pursuant to Internal Revenue Service Code 501(c)(12) or an association of like corporations exempt from tax pursuant to 501(c)(6), or operated under a cooperative basis pursuant to Subchapter T of the Internal Revenue Code and originally incorporated pursuant to Title 33, Chapter 45 of the South Carolina Code of Laws or this chapter. See South Carolina Code 33-46-20
• 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.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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.
• Trade secret: means :
  
  (a) information including, but not limited to, a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, product, system, or process, design, prototype, procedure, or code that:
  
  (i) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by the public or any other person who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and
  
  (ii) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy. See South Carolina Code 39-8-20
• 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.
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.