proceeding

n. routine, protocol; action, event; claim, demand (Law); move, step (Law)

v. continue, carry on; advance, progress, move forward

Procedural law comprises the rules by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil or criminal s. The rules are designed to ensure a fair and consistent application of due process (in the U.S.) or fundamental justice (in other common law countries) to all cases that come before a court.Lawyers distinguish procedural law from substantive law, which refers to the actual claims and defenses whose validity is tested through the procedures of procedural law.Procedural Rights may also refer to those rights encompassing, general Civil and Political rights including (but not exhaustively)
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Noun
1. (law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked
(synonym) legal proceeding, proceedings
(hypernym) due process, due process of law
(hyponym) foreclosure
(derivation) go, proceed, move
(classification) law, jurisprudence

Verb
1. continue with one's activities; "I know it's hard," he continued, "but there is no choice"; "carry on--pretend we are not in the room"
(synonym) continue, go on, carry on
(hypernym) talk, speak
(hyponym) segue
2. move ahead; travel onward in time or space; "We proceeded towards Washington"; "She continued in the direction of the hills"; "We are moving ahead in time now"
(synonym) go forward, continue
(hypernym) travel, go, move, locomote
(hyponym) head
(verb-group) continue, uphold, carry on, bear on, preserve
(derivation) progress, progression, procession, advance, advancement, forward motion, onward motion
3. follow a procedure or take a course; "We should go farther in this matter"; "She went through a lot of trouble"; "go about the world in a certain manner"; "Messages must go through diplomatic channels"
(synonym) go, move
(hypernym) act, move
(hyponym) work
(derivation) procedure, process
4. follow a certain course; "The inauguration went well"; "how did your interview go?"
(synonym) go
(hypernym) happen, hap, go on, pass off, occur, pass, fall out, come about, take place
(hyponym) drag, drag on, drag out
5. continue a certain state, condition, or activity; "Keep on working!"; "We continued to work into the night"; "Keep smiling"; "We went on working until well past midnight"
(synonym) continue, go on, go along, keep
(hypernym) act, move
(hyponym) hold
(verb-group) continue, uphold, carry on, bear on, preserve

(p. pr. & vb. n.)
of Proceed
  

(n.)
The course of procedure in the prosecution of an action at law.
  

(n.)
The act of one who proceeds, or who prosecutes a design or transaction; progress or movement from one thing to another; a measure or step taken in a course of business; a transaction; as, an illegal proceeding; a cautious or a violent proceeding.
  

In its general acceptation, this word means the form in which actions are to be brought and defended, the manner of intervening in suits, of conducting them, the mode of deciding them, of opposing judgments and of executing.

Proceediugs are ordinary and summary. 1. By ordinary proceedings are understood the regular and usual mode of carrying on, a suit by due course at common law. 2. Summary proceedings are those when the matter in dispute is decided without the intervention of a jury; these must be authorized by the legislature, except perhaps in cages of contempts, for such proceedings are unknown to the common law.

In Louisiana, there is a third kind of proceeding, known by the name of executory proceeding, which is resorted to in the following cases: 1. When the creditor's right arises from an act importing a confession of judgment, and which contains a privilege or mortgage in his favor. 2. When the creditor demands the execution of a judgment which has been rendered by a tribunal different from that within whose jurisdiction the execution is sought.

In New York the code of practice divides remedies into actions and special proceedings. An action is a regular judicial proceeding, in which one party prosecutes another party for the enforcement or protection of a right, the redress or prevention of a wrong, or the punishment of a public offence. Every other remedy is a special proceeding.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.