Note 138 — Chapter XVI · THE COURTS, THE LAW, AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE.

It may be well to explain briefly some of the terms commonly used in connection with the law and the courts. The parties to a suit at law are usually known as the plaintiff and the defendant. A criminal case is one in which some crime is charged; in a civil case, the issue concerns the private rights of individuals (for example, when a man is sued for debt). A court has original jurisdiction where cases come before it in the first instance without having already been heard by some other court; it has appellate jurisdiction when cases come up from some other court on appeal.