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Legal Research Centers of West Virginia |
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Civil and Criminal Law |
Civil Law
All legal questions that don't involve crimes are matters of civil law. When a suit is filed in court over a broken contract, deliberate or negligent injury, withheld government benefit, failed marriage (divorce) or any other dispute, a civil action has been brought and civil law is involved. In a civil action, the court may be asked to issue orders, award monetary damages or dissolve a marriage, but imprisonment is almost never a possibility. An exception is when a court orders a parent to pay child support and the parent willfully refuses.
Areas of Civil Law:
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Administrative Law Employment Law Military Law Bankruptcy Energy Law Multimedia Law Business and Professions Law Environmental Law Municipal Law Civil Rights Law Estate Planning Prison Law Commercial Law Evidence Property Law Computer Law Family Law Public Utilities Law Constitutional Law Health Law Tax Law Consumer Law Housing Law Tort (Personal Injury) Law Contracts Insurance Law Unemployment Insurance Corporation Law Intellectual Property Law Vehicle Law Creditor/Debtor Law Juvenile Law Veterans' Law Cyberlaw Labor Law Warranties Education Law Landlord/Tenant Law Welfare Law Elder Law Media Law Workers' Compensation |
Criminal Law
Generally, if a certain type of behavior is punishable by imprisonment, then criminal law is involved. For example, legislatures have generally chosen to treat shoplifting as a crime, and convicted shoplifters can end up in jail. On the other hand, most legislatures have chosen not to criminalize shady business practices. Instead, they have designated them as matters for which victims can sue for monetary compensation - that is, civil offenses.
Criminal charges are usually initiated in court by a government prosecutor, though some states allow minor criminal charges to be brought by a victim. The government is always involved, however, because crimes are considered "offenses against the people." Accordingly, if you are involved in a legal dispute with a non-governmental individual or corporation, then the matter is not criminal. But because both the state and federal governments are often involved in civil as well as criminal matters, it is impossible to tell whether you are dealing with a criminal or civil situation based solely on the fact that a government entity is one of the parties.
Areas of Criminal Law:
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Assault and Battery Juvenile Offenses Rape Breaking and Entering Kidnapping Robbery Burglary Larceny Shoplifting Conspiracy Lewd Behavior Smuggling Disorderly Conduct Malicious Mischief Tax Evasion Drug and Narcotics Offenses Marijuana Cultivation Trespass Drunk Driving Murder Weapons Offenses |
Information on this page was taken from Legal Research: How to Find & Understand the Law by Stephen Elias & Susan Levinkind, Nolo, 2003.