What are the main differences between criminal and civil law?
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Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses. There are four theories of criminal justice: punishment, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. It is believed that imposing sanctions for the crime, society can achieve justice and a peaceable social order. \n\n This differs from civil law in that civil actions are disputes between two parties that are not of significant public concern.
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Civil law can refer to various different things.  Louisiana is a "civil law" state (derived from the French tradition) as opposed to the other states, which are "common law" states (derived from the English tradition).\n\nA republic, as defined by the Article IV, section 4 of the US Constitution (which guarantees a "republican form of government") is a government where the people elect representatives who make the law, as opposed to direct democracy where people would directly vote on the laws.  A republic is a type of democracy.
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Law #1: Do what you are told or you will be SHOT!\n\nLaw #2: There is no law #2. Law #1 covers everything.\n\nApologies to Otto Preminger and the movie "Stalag 17."\n\nSeriously though (in hierarchal order*):\n*1. U.S. Constitution\n*2. Treaties/Federal Statutes (last in time prevails)\n*3. Executive Agreements/Regulations\n*4. State Laws\n 5. Common/judge-made law (if Constitutional interpretation, or law of the case, then law prevails; otherwise, may be overridden by subsequent statute; Constitutional amendment overrides all prior interpretations).
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Presentment and Indictment - No one can be prosecuted without having first been indicted by a grand jury who has found that probably cause exist to believe the suspect committed the crime.\n\nSelf Incrimination - The state cannot coerce you to make statements about your guilt - the state must prove their case against you and cannot force you to do it for them.\n\nDouble Jeopardy - The state may not try someone multiple times for the same crime.\n\nDue Process - The government cannot deprive anyone of life, liberty, or property without giving them a meaningful opportunity to be heard.\n\nGovernment Taking of Property - the government may take property from a private person but only to use it for a public purpose (e.g. build a road) and they must give the owner compensation (fair market value)
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Civil law where the issue is usually money.\nIncludes Business & Contracts and what are called torts (basically where you are wronged)\nThere is also Family law which deals with divorces etc.\nand Juvenile which deals with both those who commit crimes as well as those who need the protection of the government.
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Barristers work in court, whereas solicitors don't. That's the main practical difference.
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If you have the patience read this:\n\nhttp://www.llmc.com/civil_law_3.htm
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These terms are generally really broad. People spend most of their lives trying to figure out the laww but never do. Even after the three/four years that people spend learning the law to pass the bar exam, they still continue learning about it. Laws are basically anything agreed to by custom, agreement, or authority. Rights are anything that the person is allowed to do (not against the law). Legal means anything not against the law in gneral. and lex I dunno.
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Okay our legal justice system does perceive that there is a difference in certain offenses obviously you have them confused....How dare you to compare the heinous crime of raping someone (A felony) to the illegal immigrant to the date a (Misdemeanor -- to mean minor crime)
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A crime is a wrongdoing against society punishable by prison time or possibly death. A tort is a wrongdoing against another person, punishable by a fine or jail time (think Judge Judy or suing).
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Not sure what you mean but perhaps; the law is divided into criminal and civil law and also into statute and case law.\n\nThe division into criminal and civil law is fairly obvious and very broadly speaking civil law may be regarded as being concerned with contracts made between people and or companies or states.\n\nStatute law are the laws passed by government a system we inherited from the Romans. Case law is derived from the old Anglo-Saxon system of justice is based on precedence established in previous cases it is also concerned with interpretation of statute law.
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To set parameter which civilized people can live peacefully along with the bad.Without laws, there would be mass chaos. I live in New Orleans, and after Hurricane Katrina, I saw what lawlessness is.
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There are multiple possible standards.\n\nCriminal negligence is where the person was responsible for stopping the criminal, and failed to exercise due care in doing so. This only applies where the person owed a legal duty to act.\n\nReckless endangerment is where the person had a legal duty to act or at least a duty to reduce the risk of harm, and choose to either not act or to disregard that risk of harm. The difference is that negligence is an objective standard (what they should have done), while recklessness involves a subjectively known duty/risk.\n\nCriminal facilitation (accomplice liability) is where the person knew they were helping the criminal commit the crime, and helped them anyway.
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None of the above are really correct.  There are three big differences between civil and criminal trials.  First of all, a criminal case is brought by the government, whereas a civil case can be brought by the government or a private person.  Second, the burden of proof is much higher in a criminal case: beyond a reasonable doubt, whereas the burden in a civil case is only proof by a majority of the evidence.  Third, a civil case can have a smaller jury and the jury can decide by a majority vote, whereas in a criminal trial the jury is of 12 people and has to be unanimous.  In short, the two kinds of trial have very different procedures and parties and so they can't be mixed.
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Tort laws are civil violations, not criminal violations. They typically have to do with improperly restraining or infringing upon another person's freedoms (i.e.--false arrest, false imprisonment). As noted, they are tried through civil courts and can result in the award of monetary damages.
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The executive is in charge of the government proper.\nthe legislative is charge of the financing and the laws.\nThe Judicary interprets the law according to precident and the constituion.\nStates are seperated along the same lines. Each is responsible for conducting business in a certain way.
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Yes the definitions are very different every state has its own penal code and is free to define crimes and punishments for them in any way they see fit.\n\n\nFor example:\n\nPennsylvania penal code [1] defines 2nd degree murder as "-A criminal homicide constitutes murder of the second degree when it is committed while defendant was engaged as a principal or\nan accomplice in the perpetration of a felony. "\n\nwhile \n\nNew york penal code defines 2nd degree murder COMPLETELY differently (see NY penal code 125.25)[2] as:\n A person is guilty of murder in the second degree when:\n\n 1. With intent to cause the death of another person, he causes the death of such person or of a third person;  except that in any prosecution under this subdivision, it is an affirmative defense that:\n\n  (a) The defendant acted under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance for which there was a reasonable explanation or excuse, the reasonableness of which is to be determined from the viewpoint of a person in the defendant's situation under the circumstances as the defendant believed them to be.  Nothing contained in this paragraph shall constitute a defense to a prosecution for, or preclude a conviction of, manslaughter in the first degree or any other crime;  or\n\n  (b) The defendant's conduct consisted of causing or aiding, without the use of duress or deception, another person to commit suicide.  Nothing contained in this paragraph shall constitute a defense to a prosecution for, or preclude a conviction of, manslaughter in the second degree or any other crime;  or\n\n 2. Under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person, and thereby causes the death of another person;  or\n\n 3. Acting either alone or with one or more other persons, he commits or attempts to commit robbery, burglary, kidnapping, arson, rape in the first degree, criminal sexual act in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, aggravated sexual abuse, escape in the first degree, or escape in the second degree, and, in the course of and in furtherance of such crime or of immediate flight therefrom, he, or another participant, if there be any, causes the death of a person other than one of the participants;  except that in any prosecution under this subdivision, in which the defendant was not the only participant in the underlying crime, it is an affirmative defense that the defendant:\n\n  (a) Did not commit the homicidal act or in any way solicit, request, command, importune, cause or aid the commission thereof;  and\n\n  (b) Was not armed with a deadly weapon, or any instrument, article or substance readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury and of a sort not ordinarily carried in public places by law-abiding persons;  and\n\n  (c) Had no reasonable ground to believe that any other participant was armed with such a weapon, instrument, article or substance;  and\n\n  (d) Had no reasonable ground to believe that any other participant intended to engage in conduct likely to result in death or serious physical injury;  or\n\n 4. Under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, and being eighteen years old or more the defendant recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of serious physical injury or death to another person less than eleven years old and thereby causes the death of such person; or\n\n5. Being eighteen years old or more, while in the course of committing rape in the first, second or third degree, criminal sexual act in the first, second or third degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, aggravated sexual abuse in the first, second, third or fourth degree, or incest as defined in section 255.25 of this chapter, against a person less than fourteen years old, he or she intentionally causes the death of such person.