Difference Between Civil Law And Criminal Law

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Leucio Pacelli
Criminal Law
Professor Dyer
Jan 13th, 2015
Journal #1

For every crime committed in the United States, there are three elements that are required. The three requirements are the criminal intent for the crime, the criminal act of the crime, and the omission to act itself. There is also one more element for every crime and that is illegality or the wrongfulness of the crime. Generally speaking illegality means whether the crime can be a misdemeanor or a felony based on the laws for each state. Each State’s laws differ from one another. Though the States of the US may differ in laws, each state has Criminal Laws and Civil Laws. Criminal Law is best defined as “rights and obligations of individuals in a society” (Chapter 1.2 of the Criminal Law book). Civil Law is mostly described as laws concerned with private relations between members of a community. Although these two laws may seem to be similar they are different from each other. One of the most fundamental differences between civil and criminal law is in the idea of punishment. In criminal law, a guilty defendant is punished by either incarceration in a jail or prison, a fine paid to the government based on the crime he/she has committed, or execution of the defendant based on what crime he/she has committed. Though, the death penalty is prohibited in some states across the country. A Jury usually decides whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty. The proof must generally be proved “beyond a reasonable doubt” in order for the evidence to be used in court. In civil law, a defendant in civil litigation is never incarcerated and never executed. In general, a losing defendant in civil litigation only reimburses the plaintiff for losses caused by the defendant's behavior. A Judge makes the decision whether the defendant is liable or not liable. The proof in civil cases are proved by lower standards of proof such as “the preponderance of the evidence” which means that it was more likely that something occurred in a certain way. In conclusion, civil law deals with the disputes between individuals, organizations, or between the two,
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