Criminal Law and Civil Law: The Key Differences

The criminal and civil laws differ on a wide range of factors, ranging from deciding the cases, initiation, imposed punishments, and the available legal protections for the defendant. Unlike civil law, which handles cases that constitute an injury to a person or any other private institution, criminal law deals with traits that are offensive to society, the public, and the state. In these criminal cases, the state and federal governments have the power to initiate a claim that depends on the jury’s decisions. Besides, criminal law encourages strategies like imprisonment and payment of fines to the government. On the contrary, civil law deals with civil cases that rely on suits filed by a plaintiff. According to civil law, judges remain the main determinants of issues, and punishment consists of monetary awards instead of imprisonment in criminal cases. Hence, civil and criminal law differs in the subjects they handle and the sentences imposed on the law offenders.