Civil and public law summary

Civil and public law have many differences. Public law deals with relationship between the citizens and the state. Civil law deals with the relationship between citizens within a country. The main categories of civil law are: contracts, torts, trusts, probate and family law. The main categories of public law are: crimes, Constitutional law and International law. Civil and criminal procedures are different. Criminal actions usually are started by the state and civil actions are started by individuals or companies. A criminal case is brought by the prosecution. The party bringing a civil action is the plaintiff. In criminal law, a guilty defendant is punished by either 1. incarceration in a jail, 2. fine paid to the government, 3. execution of the defendant: the death penalty. In contrast, a defendant in civil law is never incarcerated. A losing defendant in civil action only reimburses the plaintiff for losses caused by the defendant's behavior. There are semiliarities between criminal and civil law. If the loser of a civil case refuses to pay money to the winner the procedures may result in a criminal prosecution.