Criminal and Civil Law Research: Similarities and Differences (Coursework Sample)

Criminal and Civil Law
Name
Institution
Criminal and Civil Law
Definition
According to Gardner and Anderson (2012), criminal law is a body of laws and rules that relate to crime. It contains statutes, which define conduct prohibited by authorities and which threaten public well-being and safety. It also establishes and defines the punishment for committing such acts. In the American justice system, criminal law is a preserve of both the federal and state government hence the sharing between the two. Criminal law in the United States defines crimes and establishes their punishments. The categorizing of crimes is into misdemeanors and felonies. Felonies involve serious criminal offenses that attract harsh punishment of lengthy periods of incarceration or death. Evidently, felonies have different classes that vary with the degree of punishment. Most state criminal laws define misdemeanors as misconducts (violations) that attract punishment of less than a year in a state prison. These include traffic and parking offenses (Gardner & Anderson, 2012).
According to Ejan Mackaay (2013), the civil law is a body of laws that preside over disputes between individuals and delineates private rights. It governs disagreements in property, contracts and family law. The United States civil law traces its origins from Europe, in ancient Rome. Legislations in civil law use doctrines developed by legal scholars to model a code to which all civil controversies are ruled. Thomas Lundmark (2012) explains two categories of the American justice system civil law. The first category is the civil law with the basis of a written code. Similar to common law in England, this system heavily utilizes decisions from prior cases in solving present disputes. The second form of civil law is the body of laws and rules that govern disputes among individuals and not the offenses (Lundmark, 2012).
Similarities and Differences
One of the fundamental differences between criminal and civil laws is the party that files the case. In criminal law, the filing of the case is by the government, which becomes the prosecutor. Conversely, the filing of civil litigation in a court of law is by a private party (individual or corporation); hence, either of them is the plaintiff. In terms of the structure of the court during either proceeding, both entail the presence of a jury, attorney, prosecutor, and state representatives (Werle, & Jessberger, 2014). 
Other differences include the following. The degree of punishment is another distinction between civil and criminal law. A guilty defendant in a criminal case is subject to punishment in three ways, which are paying a fine to the government, incarceration in state jail or federal prison and in some cases execution through a death penalty. Felonies attract longer sentences and have a maximum possible sentence, while misdemeanors have less than one-year sentences. In contrast, defendants in a civil case always reimburse the plaintiff for the loss incurred as opposed to incarceration or execution. Nevertheless, while the court has the right to compel a defendant to pay for damages caused, the plaintiff stands to receive nothing if the defendant lacks assets or insurance (Cole, 2014).
Lippman (2013) alleges that another difference is the burden of proof. In criminal law, the country bears the burden of proof. In this instance of bearing the burden of proof, there is p...