Difference Between Civil and Criminal Law PDF

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Difference Between Civil and Criminal Law assignment...

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Difference Between Civil and Criminal Law By Quiana Boyce In the courts, there are two ways of dealing with proceedings depending on if they are either civil or criminal law claims. There are many ways to differentiate the two, as a civil matter is a dispute regarding the rights and responsibilities of individuals, the government, and private or non-private organisations. Whereas, in criminal law, it concerns the enforcement of the criminal law against an individual or corporation by the state.

A Civil Action When dealing with a civil court claim, most parties are represented by their lawyer. In advance, to their hearing, the parties’ lawyer will prepare their case by investigating the facts and gathering and preparing evidence. By preparing in advance, it allows lawyers to be more organised and bring the most useful evidence to the court and narrow down the area of dispute. This makes it easier for the court to only deal with the most relevant issue between the parties.

In preparation for going into court they are several steps that need to be taken in order to assist the courts. Firstly, are the pleadings, the complainant will begin with lodging a document to the court that set out the essential facts and allegations of the case. The defendant will then answer whether it is admitting to most or none. Once the court is familiar with the case the interrogations will begin, during this time each party will discover facts about the issue through thorough questioning. These questions are then written down, and each answer is put under oath. In order to prevent any surprises each party is required to issue relevant documents to the facts previously presented, this way no evidence that has been settled or disposed can be brought up on the day, this process is called the discovery.

If the complainant or the defendant were to use witnesses as evidence, then they are required to send out a Subpoena, which is otherwise known as a witness summons. The witness summons is used due to witnesses being voluntary. So in preparation to the case, lawyers can’t weigh heavily on witnesses for evidence in the event they don’t make it. However, if they were to use a witness, there are two types they can use the first being; to attend and to give evidence and the second being; to attend, provide evidence and produce specified documents.

To officially begin the case, the complainant’s lawyer will start by opening the hearing with a general overview that will set out the case against the defendant. Next, the complainant witnesses are called and examined. Once this is over then it will be the defendant turn to replicate that same process.

In a civil trial, it is solely the two party’s role to bring any relevant information and facts to court. The court only role there is to ensure that everything is following the guidelines and is presented adequately. As well as apply the relevant laws to the facts presented before them in order to reach a settlement.

A Criminal Action

Unlike civil action, criminal action is set out in different ways this includes, the witnesses, who brings the relevant information, who is involved and who investigates the action. This action is enforced by the state rather than another individual or organisation, to determine if the individual is committed of an unlawful crime and to determine the guilty person punishment. A feature that civil action doesn’t get is special protection of most criminal proceedings. The most important type of protection is the protection of innocence until the court decides otherwise. Another form of protection in most Australian jurisdiction is that the prosecution may give an unsworn statement from the dock instead of giving evidence on the oath.

Bibliography

Civil law. Justice Community and Safety. (2020). Retrieved 31 August 2020, from https://www.justice.vic.gov.au/justice-system/laws-and-regulation/civil-law. Duignan, B. (2018). What Is the Difference Between Criminal Law and Civil Law?. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 31 August 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/story/what-is-the-difference-between-criminal-law-andcivil-law. Saxowsky, D. (2020). Criminal Action and Civil Action — Agricultural Law and Management. Ag.ndsu.edu. Retrieved 2 September 2020, from https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/aglawandmanagement/appliedaglaw/reference/criminalandcivil

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