Criminal Law And Civil Law

Running head: CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW 1

Criminal and Civil Law

Name

Institution

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW 2

Criminal and Civil law

Abstract

Criminal and civil laws are important in bring justice to the victims. However, they

follow certain procedures while administering justice. Criminal law solves cases involving

crimes while civil law solves cases involving disputes between private parties. This article

explains the definition of both laws, their importance, the party that files cases, how the system

works, decisions made, standard of proof, burden of proof, jury opinion, punishment, example of

cases and the similarities of both laws.

Definitions

Criminal law is a structure of law that deals with crimes and the legal punishment given

on criminal offenses while civil law is a body of law that deals with disputes between people,

organizations or between this two whereby compensation is give to the victim.

Purpose

The importance of Civil law is to solve cases between individuals and organizations or

between the two. In this law, compensation is awarded to the victim. The role of criminal law is

to ensure the stability of the state and society by punishing law offenders and deterring them and

other potential ones from offending (William, 2004). Criminal law protects the interest of the

public by punishing and rehabilitating lawbreakers.

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW 3

Case filed by

In Civil law, cases are filed by disputing private parties while in criminal law cases are

filed by the government. Civil cases starts when a complaint is filed by one of the parties

involved in dispute. The party may be an individual, organization or a company. The party

complaining is known as the plaintiff, the party responding is the defendant, and the process is

known as litigation. In civil litigation, the plaintiff asks the court to order the defendant to correct

a wrong. In most cases, the remedy is in monetary form. In contrast, the government, referred to

as the state represented by a prosecutor against the defendant, files criminal cases. Nobody can

file a criminal case against another person. Any individual may report a crime but only the

government is liable in filling criminal charges in court. Crimes are activities that are punishable

by the government (William, 2004). However, they are divided into two categories of

seriousness: misdemeanors are crimes with sentence of one year or less incarceration and

felonies are crimes with sentence of more than one year incarceration.

How the system works

Police and prosecutor are hired by the state to enforce criminal law. These services are

paid using public funds. If you are a victim of crime, you are required to report to the police to

start investigation on the matter and find the suspect. If the charge is well presented and there is

enough evidence supporting it, the state prosecutes the suspect in court. This system is called

public prosecution (William, 2004). Civil law deals with private disputes. It deals with harm,

loss, or injury to one party by the other. A defendant in civil case is found either liable or not

liable for damages, whereas in a criminal case defendant is ruled either guilty or not.

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW 4

Decision

In civil law, the judge decides whether the defendant is liable or not liable. It is the work

of the judge to decide on this case and make the best ruling. In criminal law, the defendant may

be convicted if he or she is found guilty and acquitted if not found guilty. It is the mandate of the

jury to decide if the defendant is guilty or not (William, 2004).

Standard of proof

More evidence is required to prove the accused is at fault in criminal cases than to find

the defendant is guilty in civil ones. In order to convict an individual of a crime, the prosecution

must show enough evidence to proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the individual convicted

actually committed the crime and in some cases, they had intention to commit it. Judges and

juries must be certain the person committed the crime before convicting him to be guilty (Kelsen,

2007). Their decision should not be based on believe that the individual committed crime. There

must be sufficient evidence to convince them. Civil cases contrast criminal cases in that they are

proven on a balance of probabilities. Whether likely or unlikely that the defendant caused loss or

harm the court can decide to uphold a civil claim.

Burden of proof

In criminal law, the government bears the burden of proof in order to prove that the

defendant is guilty. In this law, the defendant is presumed to be innocent until he or she is proven

guilty by the government through the judges. In case of civil law, first the burden of proof lies

with the plaintiff and later with the defendant to refute the evidence given by the plaintiffs. In

cases of civil litigation if the judge or the jury believes that from the evidence provided by the

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW 5

plaintiff more than 50% of it supports the plaintiff, then he or she rules on the side of the plaintiff

making him or her the winner (William, 2004). This 50% is very low compared to criminal law

where there must be 99% proof. In criminal law, the defendant is not declared guilty unless there

is more than 99% proof against him. If the evidence is less than 99% the judge cannot declare

him or her guilty based on believe that the defendant committed the crime.

Punishment

There is notable difference in the type of punishment given in criminal and civil laws. In

case of criminal case, an individual found guilty is punished by incarceration in prison, fine

while in some cases the defendant is given death penalty. Whereas, in cases of civil law the

losing party has to reimburse the plaintiff, the amount of loss is determined by the judge and is

known as punitive damage. It is clear that criminal litigation is more serious and strict than civil

litigation (Kelsen, 2007). This implies that criminal defendants possess more rights and

protections than a civil defendant does. Criminal law protects defendants because they are

innocent unless 99% of the evidence proves them guilty of the crime. Civil law is not strict and

does not protect defendants because the judge gives ruling according to his or her believe.

Examples of criminal and civil cases

There are several examples of cases dealing with criminal and civil law, criminal law

cases include the following theft, robbery, murder, assault and trafficking illegal substances

while civil cases include the following cases landlord and tenant disputes, child custody

proceedings, personal injury, property disputes and divorce proceedings (William, 2004). From

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW 6

the above sample cases, it is clear that criminal law deals with more serious cases compared to

civil law. Criminal cases carry more weight than civil cases.

Jury opinion

In civil cases, it is not a must the opinion of jury to be unanimous because laws vary from

one state to another while in criminal justice system the jury must agree unanimously before

convicting a defendant to be guilty (William, 2004). After ruling in civil cases either party be it,

the claimant or the defendant can appeal the decision of the court while in criminal cases only

the defendant is liable to appeal the court’s verdict.

Similarities between criminal and civil law

In these laws, both parties bringing the case may decide to drop the cases if they find the

evidence is too weak. The process involved in both cases may take a lot of time causing delays.

The party bringing the case bears the burden of proof. Both laws allow parties to defend

themselves. There is examination, cross-examination, and re-examination of witnesses in both

laws. Both laws aim at bringing justice to the victims. Both cases end up with orders from the

court. Both laws require judicial officer to preside the cases (Kelsen, 2007).

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW 7

References

William, G. (2004) Civil Law vs Criminal Law. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2015, from

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Civil_Law_vs_Criminal_Law

Kelsen, H. (2007). General theory of law and state. Clark, N.J: Lawbook Exchange.

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Paper type

Deadline

Page count

550 words

Total price: $ 15.00

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

USA, Student

"I'm fully satisfied with the essay I've just received. When I read it, I felt like it was exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the necessary words. Thank you!"

Ian McGregor

UK, Student

"I don’t know what I would do without your assistance! With your help, I met my deadline just in time and the work was very professional. I will be back in several days with another assignment!"

Shannon Williams

Canada, Student

"It was the perfect experience! I enjoyed working with my writer, he delivered my work on time and followed all the guidelines about the referencing and contents."

Criminal law and civil law

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

Ian McGregor

Shannon Williams