PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP
in effect

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 4. Section 4.

The rule of the common law, that statutes in derogation thereof are to be strictly construed, has no application to this Code. The Code establishes the law of this State respecting the subjects to which it relates, and its provisions and all proceedings under it are to be liberally construed, with a view to effect its objects and to promote justice.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 5. Section 5.

The provisions of this Code, so far as they are substantially the same as existing statutes, must be construed as continuations thereof, and not as new enactments.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 6. Section 6.

All persons who at the time this Code takes effect hold office under any of the Acts repealed, continue to hold the same according to the tenure thereof, except those offices which are not continued by one of the Codes adopted at this session of the Legislature.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 7. Section 7.

When any office is abolished by the repeal of any Act, and such Act is not in substance reënacted or continued in either of the Codes, such office ceases at the time the Codes take effect.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 8. Section 8.

No action or proceeding commenced before this Code takes effect, and no right accrued, is affected by its provisions, but the proceedings therein must conform to the requirements of this Code as far as applicable.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 9. Section 9.

When a limitation or period of time prescribed in any existing statute for acquiring a right or barring a remedy, or for any other purpose, has begun to run before this code goes into effect, and the same or any limitation is prescribed in this code, the time that has already run shall be deemed part of the time prescribed as such limitation by this code.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 11. Section 11.

Wherever any notice or other communication is required by this code to be mailed by registered mail by or to any person or corporation, the mailing of such notice or other communication by certified mail shall be deemed to be a sufficient compliance with the requirements of law.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 12. Section 12.

The time in which any act provided by law is to be done is computed by excluding the first day, and including the last, unless the last day is a holiday, and then it is also excluded.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 12a. Section 12a.

(a) If the last day for the performance of any act provided or required by law to be performed within a specified period of time is a holiday, then that period is hereby extended to and including the next day that is not a holiday. For purposes of this section, “holiday” means all day on Saturdays, all holidays specified in Section 135 and, to the extent provided in Section 12b, all days that by terms of Section 12b are required to be considered as holidays. (b) This section applies to Sections 659, 659a, and 921, and to all other provisions of law providing or requiring an act to be performed on a particular day or within a specified period of time, whether expressed in this or any other code or statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 12b. Section 12b.

If any city, county, state, or public office, other than a branch office, is closed for the whole of any day, insofar as the business of that office is concerned, that day shall be considered as a holiday for the purposes of computing time under Sections 12 and 12a.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 12c. Section 12c.

(a) Where any law requires an act to be performed no later than a specified number of days before a hearing date, the last day to perform that act shall be determined by counting backward from the hearing date, excluding the day of the hearing as provided by Section 12. (b) Any additional days added to the specified number of days because of a particular method of service shall be computed by counting backward from the day determined in accordance with subdivision (a).

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 13. Section 13.

Whenever any act of a secular nature, other than a work of necessity or mercy, is appointed by law or contract to be performed upon a particular day, which day falls upon a holiday, such act may be performed upon the next business day with the same effect as if it had been performed upon the day appointed.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 13a. Section 13a.

Any act required by law to be performed on a particular day or within a specified period of time may be performed (but is not hereby required to be performed) on a special holiday as that term is used in Section 6705 of the Government Code, with like effect as if performed on a day which is not a holiday.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 13b. Section 13b.

Any act required by law to be performed on a particular day or within a specified period may be performed (but is not hereby required to be performed) on a Saturday, with like effect as if performed on a day which is not a holiday.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 14. Section 14.

When the seal of a Court, public officer, or person is required by law to be affixed to any paper, the word “seal” includes an impression of such seal upon the paper alone as well as upon wax or a wafer affixed thereto.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 15. Section 15.

Words giving a joint authority to three or more public officers or other persons are construed as giving such authority to a majority of them, unless it is otherwise expressed in the Act giving the authority.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 16. Section 16.

Words and phrases are construed according to the context and the approved usage of the language; but technical words and phrases, and such others as have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in law, or are defined in the succeeding section, are to be construed according to such peculiar and appropriate meaning or definition.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 17. Section 17.

(a) Words used in this code in the present tense include the future as well as the present. Words used in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter. The singular number includes the plural and the plural number includes the singular. (b) As used in this code, the following words have the following meanings, unless otherwise apparent from the context: (1) “Affinity” signifies the connection existing in consequence of marriage, between each of the married persons and the blood relatives of the other when applied to the marriage relation. (2) “County” includes “city and county.” (3) “Electronic signature” means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic record. (4) “Month” means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. (5) “Oath” includes an affirmation or declaration. (A) “Depose” includes any written statement made under oath or affirmation. (B) “Testify” includes any mode of oral statement made under oath or affirmation. (6) “Person” includes a corporation as well as a natural person. (7) “Process” signifies a writ or summons issued in the course of a judicial proceeding. (8) “Property” includes both personal and real property. (A) “Personal property” includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. (B) “Real property” is coextensive with lands, tenements, and hereditaments. (9) “Section” refers to a section of this code, unless some other code or statute is expressly mentioned. (10) “Sheriff” includes marshal. (11) “Signature” or “subscription” includes a mark of a person’s name, if the person cannot write, with his or her name being written near it by a person who writes his or her own name as a witness. In order that a mark may be acknowledged or serve as the signature to any sworn statement, it shall be witnessed by two persons who shall subscribe their own names as witnesses thereto. (12) “Spouse” includes “registered domestic partner,” as required by Section 297.5 of the Family Code. (13) “State” includes the District of Columbia and the territories when applied to the different parts of the United States, and the words “United States” may include the district and territories. (14) “Will” includes codicil. (15) “Writ” means an order or precept in writing, issued in the name of the people, or of a court or judicial officer. (16) “Writing” includes printing and typewriting.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 18. Section 18.

No statute, law, or rule is continued in force because it is consistent with the provisions of this Code on the same subject; but in all cases provided for by this Code, all statutes, laws, and rules heretofore in force in this State, whether consistent or not with the provisions of this Code, unless expressly continued in force by it, are repealed and abrogated. This repeal or abrogation does not revive any former law heretofore repealed, nor does it affect any right already existing or accrued, or any action or proceeding already taken, except as in this Code provided; nor does it affect any private statute not expressly repealed.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 19. Section 19.

This Act, whenever cited, enumerated, referred to, or amended, may be designated simply as “T he C ode of C ivil P rocedure ,” adding, when necessary, the number of the section.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 20. Section 20.

Judicial remedies are such as are administered by the Courts of justice, or by judicial officers empowered for that purpose by the Constitution and statutes of this State.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 22. Section 22.

An action is an ordinary proceeding in a court of justice by which one party prosecutes another for the declaration, enforcement, or protection of a right, the redress or prevention of a wrong, or the punishment of a public offense.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 26. Section 26.

An obligation is a legal duty, by which one person is bound to do or not to do a certain thing, and arises from either of the following: (a) Contract. (b) Operation of law.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 30. Section 30.

A civil action is prosecuted by one party against another for the declaration, enforcement or protection of a right, or the redress or prevention of a wrong.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 33. Section 33.

A prosecuting attorney, in his or her discretion, may assist in the civil resolution of a violation of an offense described in Title 13 (commencing with Section 450) of Part 1 of the Penal Code in lieu of filing a criminal complaint.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026

Starting a business in California? California LLC guide: costs and requirements