Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 2.2 > Subtitle II > Part B > Chapter 41.1 - Virginia Administrative Dispute Resolution Act

• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• agency: means any authority, instrumentality, officer, board or other unit of state government empowered by the basic laws to adopt regulations or decide cases. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• Authority: means the respective political subdivisions of the Commonwealth created in this subpart. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• Board: means the respective boards of directors for the authorities created in this subpart. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dispute resolution proceeding: means any structured process in which a neutral assists parties to a dispute in reaching a voluntary settlement by means of dispute resolution processes such as mediation, conciliation, facilitation, partnering, fact-finding, neutral evaluation, use of ombudsmen or any other proceeding leading to a voluntary settlement. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• 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.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Virginia Code 1-257
• Mediation: means a process in which a neutral facilitates communication between the parties and without deciding the issues or imposing a solution on the parties enables them to understand and resolve their dispute. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• Mediation program: means a program of a public body through which mediators or mediation is made available and includes the director, agents and employees of the program. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• Mediator: means a neutral who is an impartial third party selected by agreement of the parties to a dispute to assist them in mediation. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• Neutral: means an individual who is trained or experienced in conducting dispute resolution proceedings and in providing dispute resolution services. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• Nonlegislative citizen member: means any natural person who is not a member of the General Assembly of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-225
• Official inspection: means an inspection by the Commissioner of a commercially used weight or measure pursuant to § Virginia Code 3.2-5700
• Public body: includes any committee, subcommittee, or other entity however designated, of the public body or formed to advise the public body, including those with private sector or citizen members and corporations organized by the Virginia Retirement System. See Virginia Code 2.2-4115
• Service agency: means : (i) a business; or (ii) that portion of a government or political subdivision engaged in the adjustment, installation, placing in service, recommending for use, reconditioning, repairing, servicing, or selling of any weight or measure commercially used or employed (a) in establishing the size, quantity, extent, area, or measurement of quantities, things, products, or articles for distribution or consumption, purchased, offered, or submitted for sale, hire, or award, or (b) in computing any basic charge or payment for services rendered on the basis of something's weight or its measure. See Virginia Code 3.2-5700
• Service technician: means any individual who for hire, award, commission, or any other payment of any kind, adjusts, installs, places in service, recommends for use, reconditions, repairs, services, or sells a commercial weight or measure. See Virginia Code 3.2-5700
• 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.
• Standard: means a required basis for conformance, adjustment, or verification. See Virginia Code 3.2-5700
• state: means the Commonwealth of Virginia or any of its agencies or departments. See Virginia Code 2.2-2200
• Weight or measure: means the terms as defined in § Virginia Code 3.2-5700