PROJECT WORK

OF

LEGAL METHODS

ON

TOPIC: DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CRIMINAL LAW AND CIVIL LAW

SUBMITTED TO: Prof. Avijit Faujdar

SUBMITTED BY: Syed Renoba Nisar

SEMESTER- IST

GLOCAL LAW SCHOOL

Contents:
 Introduction
 Comparison chart
 Difference between civil law and criminal law
 Difference on basis of cases, punishment, burden of proof, pre-trial, trials,
judgment, records
INTRODUCTION:

CIVIL LAW

“Civil law is the body of law imposed by the state, as opposed to moral law.”1

Civil law is a law which deals with the harm or injury to rights of individuals such as disputes
relating to sale of land, purchase of goods, marriage, rent matters. Civil law refers to the rules of
law concerning the settlement of disputes between parties which may be individuals but may
include business and other corporate bodies. Civil law is the body of rules that delineate private
rights and remedies. Civil cases begin with a petition that is filed before the relevant court by the
affected party only. A defendant in civil case is found liable or not for damages.

Civil law:

 “Is concerned with protecting the rights and property of individuals that are not
necessarily protected by criminal laws.
 Is usually initiated by an aggrieved part (such as plaintiff), who takes legal action
against those who they claim to have wronged them.
 Is sometimes concerned with commercial or contractual disputes, such as unpaid
monies, an unfulfilled contract or a breach of promise.
 Is concerned with resolving family disputes, such as marital breakups, divorce
settlements, child custody arrangements and child maintenance.
 Is concerned with examining personal sufferings, such as psychological harm or loss of
reputation, to find out if someone is liable and whether they should make restitution.”2

CRIMINAL LAW

1
(Black’s law dictionary 10th ed.)
2
(www.lawgovpol.com)
“Criminal law is the body of law defining offenses against the community at large, regulating
how suspects are investigated, charged, and tried and establishing punishments for convicted
offenders”3

Criminal law represents the pathology of civilization. Criminal law is a body of rules and statutes
that defines the conduct prohibited by government because it harms and threatens public welfare
and safety and that establishes punishment to be imposed by commission of such acts. Criminal
law involves punishing and rehabilitating offenders, and protecting the society. “The essential
objet of criminal law is to protect society against criminals and lawbreakers. For this purpose the
law holds out threats of punishments to prospective lawbreakers as well as attempts to make the
actual offenders suffer the prescribed punishments for their crimes. Therefore, criminal law, in
its wider sense, consists of both the substantive criminal law (defines offences and prescribes
punishments for same) and procedural criminal law (administer the substantive law).”4

Criminal law refers to:

 “The laws that are defined by legislation, enforced by police and prosecuted by the state.
 The laws that set clear and firm boundaries of conduct for individual’s behavior in a
society.
 The laws with a strong range of sanctions or punishments, ranging from fines to
imprisonment and in some societies execution.
 Laws that deal with offences against person such as murder, attempted murder, assault
and sexual assault.
 Laws that deal with offences against property, such as theft, fraud, arson and vandalism.
 Laws that deal with offences against public morality, such as prostitution, child
pornography, bigamy and indecent exposure.”5

COMPARISON CHART

3
(Black’s law dictionary 10th ed.)
4
(R. V. Kelkar’s , Criminal Procedure, 6 th ed. , Eastern book company, page 1)
5
(www.lawgovpol.com)
BASIS FOR CIVIL LAW CRIMINAL LAW COMPARISON

MEANING Civil law refers to a general Criminal law implies the law
law, which is concerned with related to offenses or crimes
disputes between individuals, committed against society as a
organization, or both wherein whole.
the wrongdoer compensates
the affected one.

FILED BY Plaintiff Government

PURPOSE To sustain the rights of a To maintain law and order, to

person and to compensate protect society and to give and
him. to give punishment to the
wrongdoers.

STARTS WITH Filing a petition to the Firstly, a complaint is lodged

respective courts or tribunal, with the police who investigate
by the aggrieved party. the crime, thereafter, a case is
filed in the court.

DEALS WITH It deals with any harm or It deals with the acts which law
violation to individual rights. defines as offences.

ACTION Sue Prosecute

OUTCOME Remedy Punishment

POWERS OF COURT Awards for damages or Imprisonment, fine, discharge.

injunction.

CONSEQUENCES Defendant is liable or not Defendant is guilty or not

 liable. guilty

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CIVIL LAW AND CRIMINAL LAW:

“The essence of distinction between civil law and criminal law is that in civil law (which
involves matters such as breach of contract and torts such as trespass, libel, slander, negligence
and many others) the focus is on compensating and/or protecting the victim, whereas in criminal
law (which involves matters such as theft, murder, motoring offences, and so on) the focus is on
punishing the offender.

One of the most immediately apparent practical distinctions between civil law and criminal law
lies in basic terminology. A typical civil case will be concerned with the proof of liability, and
will be called an action, although there are other terminological possibilities, including and
application and a petition. A criminal case will be concerned with proof of guilt, and will be
called a prosecution.

The legal descriptions of the party also vary. In a typical civil case a claimant (who was called a
plaintiff before the Woolf reforms of civil procedure came into effect in April 1999) will sue a
defendant. In a criminal case a prosecutor will prosecute the other party, who may be called
either the defendant or the accused.

Standard of proof differs between civil and criminal cases, with facts necessary to establish civil
liability needing to be proved only on the balance of probabilities, and facts establishing guilt in
criminal cases needing to be established beyond reasonable doubt.”6

“The main distinction between two laws are:- Civil law and criminal law are two broad and
separate entities of law which separate sets of laws and punishments.

According to William Geldart, Introduction to English law 146 (D.C.M. Yardley ed., 9th ed.
1984) “The difference between civil law and criminal law turns on difference between two
different objects which law seeks to pursue – redress or punishment. The object of civil law is

6
(Legal method, ian mcleod, 7th ed. , Palgrave Macmillan, Page34)
the redress of wrongs by compelling compensation or restitution. The wrongdoer is not punished;
he only suffers so much harm as is necessary to make good the wrong he has done. The person
who has suffered gets a definite benefit from the law, or at least he avoids a loss.

On the other hand, in case of crimes the main object of law is to punish the wrongdoer; to give
him and others a strong inducement not to commit same or similar crimes, to reform him if
possible and perhaps to satisfy the public sense that wrongdoing ought to meet with retribution.”7

Examples of criminal law include cases of burglary, assault, battery and cases of murder.

Examples of civil law applies include cases of negligence or malpractice.

DIFFERENCE ON BASIS OF CASES, PUNISHMENT, BURDEN OF PROOF, PRE-

TRIALS, TRIALS, JUDGMENTS AND RECORDS:

1. CASES

Civil LAW

In civil law, a case commences when a complaint is filed by a party, which may be an individual,
an organization, a company or a corporation, against another party. The party complaining is
called the plaintiff and the party responding is called defendant and the process is called
litigation. In civil litigation, the plaintiff is asking the court to order the defendant to remedy a
wrong, often in form of monetary compensation to the plaintiff.

Criminal LAW

In criminal law, the case is filed by the government, usually referred to as the state and
represented by a prosecutor, against a defendant. An individual can never file criminal charges
against another person. An individual may report a crime, but only the government can file
criminal charges in court.
7
(Black’s law dictionary 10th ed.)
 REASON FOR THE CASE

In a criminal case, someone has broken the law and is being charged with an offence. Most
offences are in the Criminal Code of Canada. Other offences may be in other pieces of federal or
provisional legislation.

In a civil case, the parties are involved in disputes and cannot come to an agreement. They may
be suing the other for repayment of debt, breach of contract, damages incurred because of non-
performance or for personal injuries suffered.

2. PUNISHMENT

CRIMINAL LAW

In case of criminal law a guilty defendant is punished by incarceration in a jail or prison, fine
paid to the government, or, in exceptional cases and execution of defendant: the death penalty..
Crimes are activities punishable by the government and are divided into two broad classes of
seriousness: felonies having a possible sentence or more than one year incarceration and
misdemeanors having a possible sentence of one year or less incarceration.

CIVIL LAW

In case of civil law a defendant is never incarcerated and never executed. In general, a losing
defendant in civil litigation only reimburses the plaintiff for losses caused by defendant’s
behavior. Punitive damages {damages exceeding simple compensation and awarded to punish
the defendant} are never awarded in civil cases under contract law. In civil case under tort law,
there is possibility of punitive damages, if the defendant’s conduct is egregious and had either a
malicious intent (i.e., desire to cause harm), gross negligence (i.e., conscious indifference), or a
willful disregard for the rights of others. The use of punitive damages makes a public example of
the defendant and supposedly deters future wrongful conduct by others.

A criminal litigation is more serious than civil litigation, so criminal defendants have
more rights and protection than a civil defendant.

3. BURDEN OF PROOF
CRIMINAL LAW

In criminal litigation, the burden of proof is always on the state. The state must prove that the
defendant is guilty. The defendant is assumed to be innocent; the defendant needs to prove
nothing. (There are exceptions. If the defendant wishes to claim that he/she is insane, and
therefore not guilty, the defendant bears the burden of proving his/her insanity. Other exceptions
include defendants who claim self defense or duress.)

In criminal litigation, the state must prove that the defendant satisfied each element of the
statutory definition of the crime, and the defendant’s participation, “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

CIVIL LAW

In civil litigation, the burden of proof is initially on the plaintiff. However, there are number of
technical situations in which the burden shifts to the defendant.

For example, when the plaintiff has made prima facie case, the burden shifts to the defendant to
refute or rebut the plaintiff’s evidence.

In civil litigation, the plaintiff wins if the preponderance of the evidence favors the plaintiff. For
example, if the jury believes that there is more than a 50% probability that the defendant was
negligent in causing the plaintiff’s injury, the plaintiff wins. This is low standard, compared to
criminal law.

4. PRE-TRIAL

CRIMINAL LAW

In serious criminal cases, a preliminary inquiry is held in Provisional Court before the case is
put over for trial. The Crown will represent all its evidence and the accused is encross-
examine the Crown witness. The accused does not have to present any evidence at this time.

Civil law
In a civil case, the parties are examined before trial by the other side in a process known as
discovery. There may also be pre-trial mediation and trial conferences in the hope of settling
or making the trial more streamlined.

5. TRIALS

CRIMINAL LAW

In criminal cases, a trial may be by judge alone or by a judge and jury. If there is a jury there
are 12 jurors who all must decide guilty or not guilty. If they cannot decide it is called a hung
jury and a new trial will take place. The jury does not take place in the sentencing of the
convicted offender.

CIVIL LAW

In civil cases, a trial is usually by judge alone but the parties may request a jury. The jury has
8 members and only 6 out 8 have to decide that the defendant is liable. The civil jury also
gives its recommendation on how much money should be paid in case if the plaintiff is
successful.

6. JUDGMENT

CRIMINAL LAW

In a criminal trial, the judge is responsible for sentencing the convicted offender and will
follow guidelines for sentencing set out in the Criminal Code of Canada. Although the judge
can order a fine or restitution it is more likely that the sentence is time spent on probation or
in time spent in jail.

CIVIL LAW
In a civil trial, the judge taking into account the jury’s recommendation is responsible for
setting the damages in a case. Civil cases are about the amount of money paid by one party to
other.

7. RECORDS

CRIMINAL LAW

In a criminal case, the convicted offender has a criminal record.

CIVIL LAW

In a civil case, there is no criminal record. In some cases the settlement could affect the
future business and personal interests of the party who is found liable.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Books referred

 Ian mcleod, Legal method, 7th edition, Published by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN

 R.V. Kelkar’s, Criminal Procedure, 6TH Edition, EBC Publishing (P) ltd., 34-A, Lalbagh,
Lucknow

Websites referred

https://lawgovpol.co

https://lawlessons.ca