What does the term "waiver" refer to in legal contexts?

In legal contexts, the term "waiver" refers to a voluntary relinquishment of a known right. This means that a party consciously decides to forgo a legal right or privilege that they would otherwise be entitled to assert. For a waiver to be legally recognized, it must be clear that the party understood the right they were giving up and intentionally chose to relinquish it. This concept is often found in contracts, where one party may waive their right to enforce specific terms, or in litigation, where a party might waive their right to argue certain legal points.

The notion of a voluntary relinquishment is crucial; it distinguishes waiver from an involuntary renunciation of rights, which can occur due to influencing factors or coercion. In contrast, the other choices either mischaracterize the nature of a waiver, as in the case of a conditional agreement, or misrepresent it as a request for review, which does not involve relinquishing rights at all. Thus, the correct understanding of a waiver is centered around the voluntary aspect of giving up a known legal right.