Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. A declared state of bankruptcy can be requested or initiated by the bankrupt individual or organisation, or it can be requested by creditors in an effort to recoup a portion of what they are owed. However, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the bankruptcy is initiated by the "bankrupt" individual or organization.

Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. Examples include the right to vote and anti-discrimination laws. Civil rights movements usually want equal protection of the laws for minorities, as well as new laws outlawing discrimination and its vestiges. Civil rights effectively upholds the values of positive liberty.

Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. The goal of this process is that of achieving criminal justice. The major objective of criminal law is deterrence and punishment.

A creditor is a party (e.g. person, organization, company, or government) that claims that a second party owes the first party some property or service. The first party, in general, has provided some property or service to the second party under the assumption (usually enforced by contract) that the second party will return an equivalent property or service. The first party is frequently called a lender, and the second party is frequently called a debtor or borrower.

A civil action in which a party claims some sort of damage to their person caused by another party. These might be negligence actions (such as a car crash), or an intentional action (such as an assault or trespass).