respondent

A respondent is a person who is called upon to issue a response to a communication made by another. The term is used in legal contexts, in survey methodology, and in psychological conditioning.

== Legal usage == In legal usage, this term specifically refers to the defendant in a legal proceeding commenced by a petitioner, and also to an appellee, or the opposing party, in an appeal from a decision by an initial fact-finder or tribunal. For example in a Court of Appeal case, the respondents are the party facing the appellant, who is challenging a lower court decision or some aspect of it. The respondent may have been the "claimant" or the "defendant" in the lower court.