code - A collection, compendium or revision of laws, rules and regulations enacted by the legislature, i.e., Utah Code Annotated.  

codicil - A supplement or an addition to a will. It may explain, modify, add to, subtract from, qualify, alter, restrain or revoke provisions in the existing will.  

commit - To send a person to prison or jail in criminal proceedings, or to another institution in civil cases by authority of a court.  

common law - General provisions of law existing before codification or interpretation by courts.  

commutation - The change of a punishment from a greater degree to a lesser degree, as from death to life imprisonment. In Utah this may be done by the Board of Pardons.  

comparative negligence - The degree to which a person contributed to his/her own injury, damage or death. Usually measured in terms of percentage. Contributory negligence is the failure to exercise care by a plaintiff, which contributed to the plaintiff's injury.  

competency - A witness's ability to observe, recall and recount under oath what happened. Criminal defendants must also be competent to stand trial; they must understand the nature of the proceedings and have the ability to assist their lawyers.  

complainant - Synonymous with "plaintiff," or, in criminal cases, the complaining witness.  

complaint - The first pleading on the part of the plaintiff in a civil action.  

concurrent jurisdiction - The jurisdiction of two or more courts, each authorized to deal with the same subject matter.