What is the difference between criminal and civil law? What is a tort? What are three forms of product-liability cases that can be formed due to a manufacturer’s negligence? And what is a warranty? These are all important questions that are answered by having a basic knowledge of the law and regulations. Let’s take a look at each term and how our legal court system has defined them. First, criminal law is a crime and considered a type of wrongdoing. It can be against an individual or to society as a whole that is perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise an endangerment to a person’s property, health, safety, and/or moral welfare. We define these crimes as assault, battery, arson, rape, or fraud, just to name a few. Therefore, if a person allegedly has committed a crime, a public official such as a district attorney, will file a case against a defendant, whom is then required to appear in court. The defendant then will need to appear before a judge or jury and based on the evidence presented a finding will be either innocence or guilt. If a defendant in a criminal matter is found guilty, our society believes that a defendant should serve a punishment for their wrong doings. Therefore, punishments for the wrong doer are either fines, probation, imprisonment, or in some cases even death. Second, civil law is an injury to a person or property in which a civil action begins when a party files a complaint. For example, a civil matter could be a breach of
Criminal Law was essentially set up by the legislative and Congress, and includes the sentences by which individuals who violate the laws will be punished. A case will begin when an offense has occurred. Law enforcement will begin their process of investigation and gather evidence against the person who had committed the offense. Offenses are categorized as a summary of crimes, misdemeanors, and felonies. There are five categories of the violations of criminal law that can be categorized as either: felonies, misdemeanors, offenses, treason and espionage, and inchoate offenses (Schmalleger, 2015).
The criminal justice system ensures the safety and protection of society from criminal offenders. The process of the criminal justice system begins when a criminal offense is reported to law enforcement officials. If required, an investigation begins, leading to a warrant and arrest. Following the arrest, bail is set and a preliminary hearing is scheduled. If the defendant is indicted, a trial date is set. Providing the defendant does not waive the right to a jury trial, a
1. Define civil and criminal law. Could these case facts give rise to a criminal, a civil case, or both? Explain your answer.
The court is the second component of the justice system – once the suspect is arrested, s/he is referred to as a defendant. It is now up to the court to decide if the police had enough evidence for probable cause for arrest – if the determination is positive, then the defendant gets an opportunity to plead innocent or guilty. Once the court establishes that the defendant is innocent, s/he is released; on the other hand if the defendant is found guilty the court decides the type of punishment and then the defendant is turned over to the Corrections for the follow up of the punishment.
The civil legal system is one in which plaintiff feels that they have been wronged in someway and seek compensation and not punishment through a civil suit. This usually happens in the form of property or monetary damages. In these cases civil law governs relationship between and among people, business, organizations, and governmental entities. For example the case of Rodriguez v. Firestone (2001) civil law contained the rules for the manufacturing and sales of consumer goods with hidden hazards for the user.
Criminal Law is largely statutory, and it covers certain kinds of crimes, such as murder, robbery, rape, fraud and extortion. In criminal cases, the state prosecutes the offender not the victim. There is three kinds of offenses and they are petty offenses, such as traffic violations, and they are usually punishable by a fine. Misdemeanors where you are charged a larger fine, and then you have the major offenses. They are felonies, which were mentioned earlier, those cases can be heard and prosecuted by the state or the Federal government, and they are usually punished by imprisonment. One example is the case of the OJ Simpson case, he was tried in Criminal court but he was found not guilty of Murder.
Tort law enables citizens to seek reimbursement for loss and or suffering from conduct that would be deemed dangerous or unreasonable of others (3). Tort law is non criminal and is dealt with in our civil judicial system. The categories of Tort Law include intentional tort, negligence and strict liability.
Tort: A “Civil Wrong” Torts refer to a general classification covering civil causes of action
Civil law deals with breaches. Crimes are prosecuted by the state. The problem is civil tort law has a wide variety of legal claims. Assault, battery, trespass, and theft are all types of intentional tort civil law.
this is situations when people start to become aware or their own legal rights and looking to seek compensation. an individual will bring the case forward against another person (defendant) to claim any damages that have been caused.
Criminal trials depend on the jury’s decision on whether a defendant is guilty or not of the crimes they are charged with. After examining the evidence and testimony during the trail, the jury will decide if the defendant broke the law. A judge will give specific instructions to follow, and the laws that govern the proceedings of the case.
A criminal case may begins when a legal representative for the federal government, the U.S. attorney or an assistant U.S. attorney, convenes a federal grand jury and presents it with evidence or information that indicates that a specific person committed a crime. Only crimes that engage federal laws are tried in federal court, such as bank robberies, serious drug law violations, securities law cases, or damage to federal property. If the grand jury believes there is enough evidence to show that the person in all probability committed the crime, it issues an indictment. Following the indictment, the court may summon the accused to appear in court, or it may authorize a U.S. marshal or federal peace officer to arrest the defendant. The defendant is brought before either a judge or a magistrate judge, at an indictment and is asked to plead "guilty" or "not guilty." If the defendant pleads "guilty," the judicial police officer will set a time for sentencing. If the defendant pleads "not guilty," the judicial officer will set a date for trial.
There are two major areas of law, civil law and criminal law. As a society, people tend to not pay attention to law unless they are in the middle of an issue. The two areas of law are important to know though, since an issue can occur at any time and it is important to be prepared and have a basic understanding of what is happening and what to do. Many people do not know the distinction between civil law and criminal law, and while the ramifications vary considerably for each, the cases can occur simultaneously, which is why it is important to know the differences and in what scenarios each form is used.
Presented are four separate cases that have been argued and settled in a court of law. Each of these cases represent a different kind of tort, a tort is a civil wrong or wrongful act, which can be either intentional or accidental, from which injury occurs to another (Hill & Hill n.d.). The torts are as listed, intentional, criminal, negligence, and liability as presented in the four researched cases.