Civil Law & Criminal Law: Are They Alike?

Civil Law & Criminal Law: Are They Alike?

 

Civil law seeks the remedy, and criminal law punishes. Other than that, Civil law looks for a solution and compensates the victim. Furthermore, private parties file civil law cases.

 

On the other hand, Criminal law seeks to discipline, and the government files criminal cases. Also, in a criminal court, a person is guilty or not guilty whereas, in a civil law case, a person is liable or not liable. Let us look at civil law before moving on to criminal law.

 

Civil Law

 

Civil law is more about the rights and property of people or organisations. The civil law system settles the issues among different parties by awarding compensation. Usually, you do not get sent to prison for breaking civil laws, however, there are circumstances where you can. Here are a few civil law examples to give you a better idea of civil law.

 

• Breach of Contract
  A breach of promises of a contract is a civil crime. For instance, a vow in the written word might dictate that a person is eligible to get money from another party. If that person does not receive the money that he should get, then the civil law system will issue an order to compensate him.
• Personal Injuries
  If a person has a road accident, or if the person is a victim of medical negligence, then the civil law system will step in to assess the damage and compensate the victim.
  Family disputes
  The civil law system has to intervene when it comes to divorces or child issues. They also engage in arranging childcare. Other than that, they oversee civil partnerships.
• Employment Law
  Civil law enforcement is necessary when there is discrimination against an employee at the workplace. The victim of discrimination may get compensation for suffering.

 

Civil law enforcement is necessary when there is discrimination against an employee at the workplace. The victim of discrimination may get compensation for suffering.

 

Sometimes a person can break civil law and criminal law with one act. For example, domestic violence breaks both civil and criminal laws. Now let us look at criminal law and how it is different from civil law.

 

Criminal law

 

Criminal law deals with offences that impact the whole society. Civil law also covers offences by British citizens abroad.

 

An offender is subject to criminal prosecution in the name of the Crown. They will have to stand before the magistrates and judge of the magistrates’ court or Crown court. Here are some examples of offences that fall under criminal law.

 

• Criminal damage
  You cannot damage private or public property by being reckless. If you do, then you have broken a criminal law.
• Sexual assault
  Sexual assault is when a person touches another person sexually without content. At extremes, sexual assault refers to forceful engagement in sexual acts. It is a criminal offence, and you will very likely get prison time for such a crime.
• Murder
  Murder is a serious offence, and it is known as the worse case of homicide. If a person takes the life of another person with the full intent of injury or death, then he might get a life sentence.
• Fraud
  Fraud is a criminal offence because of an act of dishonesty. If a person dishonestly tries to make a gain for himself or someone else, then it is considered fraud. From another point of view, if a dishonest act causes a loss for another party, then it is an act of fraud. Even causing the risk of loss will be seen as a crime.

 

A person who breaks the criminal law might have to pay fines or serve prison time. But before sentencing, the person has to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, or else the person is innocent. Now let us look at the difference between civil law and criminal law.

 

Civil law vs Criminal law

 

• The purpose of civil law is to seek a remedy, whereas criminal law punishes.
• As far as jurisdiction, civil law looks out for family disputes, personal injuries, employment laws etc. On the other hand, criminal law punishes murderers, frauds, sex offenders and other serious criminals.
• The government files cases of criminal law, but in the case of civil laws, private parties do the filing.
• Other than that, you are either guilty or not guilty in the eye of criminal law. That is not the case when it comes to civil law. You are either liable or not if you are a civil law offender.
• One important thing to remember is that a person can be both a criminal and civil law offender for a single offence. Domestic violence is an example of being both liable and guilty.

 

Now that we know what civil and criminal law is, and the differences between them, let us move on to the bottom line.

 

Bottom Line

Civil law tries to resolve issues with compensation, whereas Criminal law punishes the guilty. Either way, you need good representation like Leonard Solicitors. Always remember that people make mistakes and that you are never alone.