The Differences Between Civil And Criminal Law

The legal system of any state consists of a number of branches: constitutional law, administrative law, civil law and etc. Our task is to dwell on civil law and criminal law.

Civil law is concerned with rights, duties and obligations of  individual members of  society between themselves, individuals and organizations between themselves. Civil law includes: family law, the law of property, the law of contract, commercial law, the copyright law and the like. In particular civil cases deal with wills and administration of estates, adoptions, guardianships, marriage licenses. The main essence of civil law is a law of  persons and of property, thus it defines the civil rights of the individual, which in the modern democratic state tend to be treated as equal.

Criminal law is that part of the law which is concerned with crimes. A crime is an act or default which prejudices the interest of the community and is forbidden by law under punishment. It is an offense against the state, as contrasted with a tort or civil wrong, which is a violation of a right of an individual and which does not lead to punishment. The most important categories of crime in the United States are felony and misdemeanor. Criminal law includes the rules as to the prevention, investigation, prosecution and punishment of crime. It lays down what constitute a criminal offense, what proof is necessary to establish the fact of a criminal offense  and the culpability of the offender, what excuse or justification for the act or omission can be legally admitted, what procedure should be followed in a criminal court, what kinds of punishment should be imposed for the various offenses which come up for trial. Criminal law is concerned with wrongs against the Community as a whole. Criminal offenses range from miner offenses tried summarily without a jury to the more serious offenses usually tried upon indictment before a judge and a jury.



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