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Criminal Law vs.
Civil Law
Copyright © 2009 ShootDontShoot
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This article
discusses some of the differences between Criminal and
Civil Law as it applies to law enforement. |
One of the most common
situations we deal with in
law enforcement is determining when a
call is considered civil or criminal. People call the
police all the time for issues that fall under civil law which
tie the officers' hands when it comes to making an arrest.
For example, your roommate
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steals $100 from
the kitchen table while you were out. You call the
police and make a complaint. The problem is since
both you and the "suspect" live at the same house, it's
considered a civil deal and you would have to sue the
person in small claims court.
Another common example is allowing
someone to live at your residence, but never putting their
name on the lease. Usually when the owner of the
home can no longer get along with the roommate, they
demand that the person leave at a moment's notice based on
the grounds that their name is not on the note, and
secondly, the person "doesn't pay rent." The problem
is (for most |
states
anyway) even though the person doesn't legally own anything, or
their name isn't listed as a renter, they've established
residency. And once they've done that, the rightful owner
must go through the courts by applying for an eviction notice,
and have a judge actually order the person out. Police are
routinely sent to these types of calls daily and are constantly
explaining this process.
An easy way to distinguish
Civil Law vs Criminal Law
Generally speaking, anytime
an issue has to do with money and both parties are living
together or have some type of ongoing relationship, it's
considered civil. Again, I stress "general" because there
are several situations where this wouldn't apply. Civil
judgments do no include incarceration, but only deals with
money.
Criminal law on the other
hand is the body of statutory and common law that deals with
crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses.
Whereas civil law requires the person found guilty to pay, if a
person is found guilty in criminal law, they not only could be
fined, but they can do jail or prison time.
Civil Law Examples
Landlord and tenant disputes,
child custody cases, divorce and separation issues, property
issues, etc.
Criminal Law Examples
Assaults on other persons,
robbery, theft, drunk driving, murder, etc.
Opinion
According to William Geldart,
Introduction to English Law 146 (D.C.M. Yardley ed., 9th ed.
1984). “The difference between civil law and criminal law turns
on the difference between two different objects which law seeks
to pursue - redress or punishment. The object of civil law is
the redress of wrongs by compelling compensation or restitution:
the wrongdoer is not punished; he only suffers so much harm as
is necessary to make good the wrong he has done. The person who
has suffered gets a definite benefit from the law, or at least
he avoids a loss. On the other hand, in the case of crimes, the
main object of the law is to punish the wrongdoer; to give him
and others a strong inducement not to commit same or similar
crimes, to reform him if possible and perhaps to satisfy the
public sense that wrongdoing ought to meet with retribution.”
What's your opinion?
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