premise: a civil <mask>; a criminal <mask>; a <mask> in chancery.
hypothesis: the best context for <mask> here is The attempt to gain an end by legal process; an action or process for the recovery of a right or claim; legal application to a court for justice; but not A number of things used together, and generally necessary to be united in order to answer their purpose; a number of things ordinarily classed or used together; a set.