Law is a system of rules, manner or procedures recognised by practice, agreement, or authority. These rules run the activities of a community and control the actions of those within it. I am going to discuss the distinctions between criminal law and civil law under the following five headings:
• Classifications
• Parties Involved
• Objectives
• Tests
• Commencement of Proceedings
Classifications: criminal law is public law which runs the legal relationship between the citizen and the State, used in cases like murder or manslaughter, e.g. in the DPP v Murphy case a man was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by the State. Civil law is private law that typically disputes between individuals regarding the legal duties and responsibilities they owe one another, used in cases like personal injury or injunctions, e.g. in the Jackson v O’Mahony case.
Parties Involved: for criminal law the parties involved are
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The objectives for the civil law are compensation - something that is done or given to make up for damage, trouble, etc., regulate commence and to restrain certain actions.
Tests: for criminal law the test used is burden of proof which is “beyond all reasonable doubt” placing a responsibility on the prosecution to prove that a defendant is guilty of the offence charged. This is a far higher standard than that is essential in civil cases, where the plaintiff must prove the case only on the balance of probabilities (one party 's case needs to be more probable than the other). Civil liability is considered less blameworthy and the punishments are less severe therefore there is a difference in