Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 33 > Chapter 41 > Article 1 - General Provisions

• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• Benefit ratio: means :
  
  (a) for the period of January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2013, the number calculated by dividing the sum of all benefits charged to an employer during the forty calendar quarters immediately preceding the calculation date by the sum of the employer's taxable payroll for the same period. See South Carolina Code 41-31-5
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Court: includes every court and judge having jurisdiction in the case;
  
  (2) "Business" includes every trade, occupation, or profession;
  
  (3) "Bankrupt" includes a bankrupt under the Federal Bankruptcy Act or an insolvent under any state insolvent act;
  
  (4) "Conveyance" includes every assignment, lease, mortgage, or encumbrance;
  
  (5) "Real property" includes land and any interest or estate in land; and
  
  (6) "Registered limited liability partnership" includes a partnership formed pursuant to an agreement governed by the laws of this State, registered under § 33-41-1110 and complying with §§ 33-41-1120 and 33-41-1130. See South Carolina Code 33-41-20
• 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.
• Department: means the Department of Employment and Workforce. See South Carolina Code 41-31-5
• Department: means the Department of Employment and Workforce;
  
  (2) "Director" means the Director of the Office of Statewide Workforce Development;
  
  (3) "Executive director" means the Executive Director of the Department of Employment and Workforce;
  
  (4) "Executive committee" means the executive committee of the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development;
  
  (5) "Unified State Plan" or "USP" means the comprehensive statewide education and workforce development plan that provides a systemwide approach to streamline and unify efforts of entities involved in education and workforce development in the State;
  
  (6) "Office of Statewide Workforce Development" or "OSWD" means the Office of Statewide Workforce Development created in this chapter; and
  
  (7) "Coordinating Council for Workforce Development" or "CCWD" means the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development administered by the department. See South Carolina Code 41-30-120
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Eligible patient: means an individual who:
  
  (a) has a terminal illness, attested to by a treating physician;
  
  (b) has, in consultation with a treating physician, considered and exhausted all other treatment options currently approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration;
  
  (c) has received a recommendation from the treating physician for use of an investigational drug, biological product, or device for treatment of the terminal illness;
  
  (d) has given informed consent in writing to use the investigational drug, biological product, or device for treatment of the terminal illness or, if the individual is a minor or is otherwise incapable of providing informed consent, the parent or legal guardian has given informed consent in writing to use the investigational drug, biological product, or device; and
  
  (e) has documentation from the treating physician that the individual meets all of the criteria for this definition, including an attestation from the treating physician that the treating physician was consulted in the creation of the written, informed consent required under this chapter. See South Carolina Code 44-137-10
• 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.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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.
• 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.
• Informed consent: means a written document that is signed by an eligible patient; or if the patient is a minor, by a parent or legal guardian; or if the patient is incapacitated or without sufficient mental capacity, by a designated health care agent pursuant to a health care power of attorney, that at a minimum includes:
  
  (a) an explanation of the currently approved products and treatments for the eligible patient's terminal illness;
  
  (b) an attestation that the eligible patient concurs with the treating physician in believing that all currently approved treatments are unlikely to prolong the eligible patient's life;
  
  (c) clear identification of the specific investigational drug, biological product, or device proposed for treatment of the eligible patient's terminal illness;
  
  (d) a description of the potentially best and worst outcomes resulting from use of the investigational drug, biological product, or device to treat the eligible patient's terminal illness, along with a realistic description of the most likely outcome. See South Carolina Code 44-137-10
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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}
• 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.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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.
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• 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.
• Terminal illness: means a progressive disease or medical or surgical condition that:
  
  (a) entails significant functional impairment;
  
  (b) is not considered by a treating physician to be reversible even with administration of available treatments approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration; and
  
  (c) will result in death without life-sustaining procedures. See South Carolina Code 44-137-10
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.