Civil Law vs. Criminal Law

Key Differences


Comparison Chart
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Punishment Type
Jury Opinion
Judgment
Purpose

Burden of Proof

Case Filed by

Common Examples
What is Civil Law?
Civil law is the law system or law body of any of the specific state or country which deals with the disputes between individuals, public and in between organizations. It is a non-criminal common law system that more precisely focuses on resolving the disputes and issues between two parties. Civil law is also known as civilian law and Roman law in many of the countries of Europe. This law was initially first originated from the Europe. In the early ages of Roman Empire and Greek time, a kind of civil law was setup, which main focus was to make peace between the people of the state and make them unite. Civil law was referred as the common law of the state at first and later on was contrasted with the decisional law and then judgmental law which involves the jury and judges. Later on, this civil law named as common law spread all around the world from the Europe and is now among the basic law portion of world top famous law bodies and legal systems like Halakha, canon law, common law and Islamic law. In other words, we can say that civil law deals with the private relations, disputes and issues of public and common people living together as a community in a state or country. Civil law does not deal with any religious issue, military issues, criminal issues and various other specified ones. It is a general law that is responsible for keeping positive and peaceful environment among the people. A major focus of the civil law is in resolving the disputes between individuals and organizations. Civil law does not involve any physical punishment or imprisonment as it is a totally different concern and falls in another law category. It moreover focuses on the compensating the affected and suffering party financially.
What is Criminal Law?
Criminal law is the law body of any state or country that specifically deals with the health, safety, and protection of its people. Criminal law is the specified law body that focuses on dealing with the criminals committing crimes and involve in illegal activities. Criminal law is a different set up in every state and country according to their religious involvement and other social norms. Criminal activities such as stealing, kidnapping, killing, assaulting, damaging, etc. all these are a deal under the criminal code law of the state. The case is usually filed either by the government itself or the victim. By proper trials in the court by evidence and proofs, if the person is found accused of doing something illegal and is guilty then he or she is punished accordingly. Usual punishments include physical imprisonment and financial compensation as well. Swear cases may also involve lifetime imprisonment and the death penalty as well.