Civil procedure
Civil procedure is the body of rules governing how courts handle noncriminal disputes, from filing and service through trial, judgment, and appeal.
Pleading: Formal written statements in which parties set out claims, defenses, and responses in a lawsuit. The complaint and answer define the dispute before the court.
Jurisdiction: A court’s legal authority to hear a case, decide issues, or bind parties. Every procedural step depends on the court having authority over the case.
Criminal procedure: The rules governing how governments investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate alleged crimes. It addresses prosecutions and criminal penalties rather than private civil claims.
Common law: A legal tradition in which courts develop law through decisions alongside statutes and other legal sources. Its court practices shaped the inherited procedures used in many civil courts.
Access to justice: The practical ability to understand, use, and obtain remedies through legal institutions. Filing costs, procedural complexity, and court access shape who can bring civil claims.
Service of process: Formal delivery of legal documents that gives a party notice of a proceeding and an opportunity to respond. Proper service gives defendants notice and establishes the court’s authority to proceed against them.
Subject-matter jurisdiction: A court’s authority to hear a particular category of dispute. It determines whether the chosen court may decide this kind of civil claim.
Substantive law: Law that defines legal rights, duties, offenses, and liabilities rather than the processes for enforcing them. Civil procedure governs how courts apply rights that substantive law establishes.
Equity: A body of legal principles and remedies developed to address limits of common-law courts. The historical division between law and equity influenced remedies and court procedure.
Class action: A lawsuit in which representative parties litigate claims on behalf of a defined group. Class procedure can make numerous similar claims manageable in one case.