Glossary of legal terms

Electronic procedure that enables a party to file a claim by exclusively electronic means.

Enables the parties and/or their representatives in cases brought before the court to exchange procedural documents with the registries by exclusively electronic means.

Any document in electronic format containing structured data (and possibly also unstructured data) used in the context of an administrative process.

Administration: data files in a format created by software commonly available to the general public such as Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Excel or Word, and consumer accounting programs.

Judiciary: any text, illustration or other matter supplied or produced by either Party in digitised form on disc, memory stick, via email, online.

Electronic file management is a document management software solution that allows a party or a court or a judicial officer to capture, store, and manage physical and electronic files. An electronic file management system is specifically designed to replace physical file cabinets and also includes features like search, mobile document access, document distribution, and editing documents.

Electronic indication of a person’s intent to agree to the content of a document or a set of data to which the signature relates.

Execution of judgments.

Illegality of administrative acts that affected the administrative discretionary measure when the administration grossly and manifestly misunderstood the evaluation of the facts that motivated its decision. This may happen when an element of the legal norm, granting the administrative power, contains an “indefinite legal concept” to be fulfilled by the authority with content and the administration acts taking into account a misrepresentation of the facts.

In common law, the leading or adducing of oral evidence from a witness presented by a party as his/her own witness.

In civil law, examination in chief is when a witness is asked by the party that has called them. After giving examination in chief, the witnesses are cross- examined by the other party.

An issue raised by the court of its own motion.

A point reaised by the claimant or by another party.

Impediments that may justify the non-compliance with time limits.

In common law, physical or documentary evidence (such as correspondence between the parties) presented to the court by means either of affidavit or sworn evidence.

Professional who is designated by a court, on account on his/her expertise in a particular field, to give an opinion on matters of fact relevant to the resolution of a case (e.g., to quantify damages in a complex economic case or to assess causality in a medical case). Experts may also deliver "expert evidence" within the area of their expertise. Their opinion may be rebutted by testimony from other experts or by other evidence or facts. Parties may choose their own experts (referred to as “counsel experts”) in order to verify, contradict or confirm the court expert’s findings.

Extinction of the trial because the claim has not been continued or resumed within a period fixed by law or assigned by the Court.