Civil & Public Law Summary

The text is about the main differences in Civil and Public law. In civil law, a private party files the lawsuit and becomes the plaintiff. In Public law, the litigation is always filed by the government, who is called the prosecution.

Both civil law and public law in England has their main categories. Civil law relates contracts, torts, trusts, probates and family law, while the public law - crimes, constitutional law and international law.

One of the most fundamental distinctions between civil and public law is in the punishments. In criminal law, a guilty defendant is punished by either life imprisonment, fine paid to the government, or, in exceptional cases, execution of the defendant: the death penalty. In Public law a defendant in civil action is never imprisoned and never executed.

The second important distinction is the standards of proof that are higher in a criminal action than in a civil one. As well as the procedures in criminal actions are always started by the state, while in civil action - by company or private individual.