Civil law (common law) facts for kids
Civil law is a part of the law that deals with disagreements between people or groups. It's about the duties people owe to each other or to their government. This is different from criminal law, which focuses on crimes. Civil law helps solve problems like when someone gets hurt or when people disagree about a contract.
In the United States, civil law has some unique features. For example, there are "class actions," where many people with a similar problem can sue together. Also, in cases where someone is harmed (called "tort" cases), courts can sometimes award extra money beyond just covering losses. This extra money is called "punitive damages." Many people in other countries are surprised by how many civil cases happen in the United States.
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What are Civil Cases About?
Civil law covers many different kinds of cases. These include things like divorce, deciding who gets child custody, and child support payments. It also handles disagreements about contracts, like when someone doesn't follow an agreement.
Another common type of civil case is when someone is hurt and seeks money for their injuries or losses. For example, if someone causes an accident and injures another person, the injured person might start a civil case to get money for their medical bills and other damages. Even if a situation is also a crime, like a serious car accident caused by reckless driving, there can be both a criminal case (to punish the driver) and a civil case (to compensate the injured person).
How Civil Cases are Proven
Civil cases use a different standard of proof than criminal cases. In civil cases, the standard is called "preponderance of the evidence." This means that the evidence must show it's more likely than not (over 50% likely) that something happened.
Criminal cases, on the other hand, use a much higher standard called "beyond a reasonable doubt." This means the jury must be almost completely sure that the person committed the crime.
A famous example that shows this difference is the O. J. Simpson trials. In his criminal trial, the jury decided there wasn't enough evidence to meet the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard, so he was found not guilty of murder. But in a separate civil trial for wrongful death, a different jury found him responsible because the evidence met the lower "preponderance of the evidence" standard.
Civil Jury Trials
In the United States, people often have the right to a jury trial in civil cases. This is quite rare in most other countries. Places like England, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand mostly use "bench trials" for civil cases.
Even in the US, only a small percentage of civil cases actually go to a jury trial. When juries are used, the process changes. A group of citizens (the jury) is chosen. They listen to witnesses and look at evidence. Then, they decide the outcome of the case based on the instructions given by the judge.
Civil Bench Trials
Most civil cases are decided by a judge alone, which is called a "bench trial." Judges often prefer bench trials because they can save time. They can also encourage both sides to reach a settlement before a trial is even needed.
Bench trials have several advantages. They are usually less formal than jury trials. Lawyers for both sides can often agree on many of the facts before the trial starts. This saves a lot of time that would otherwise be spent presenting those facts to a jury. This can also help reduce the overall costs of the trial.
In a bench trial, the judge makes the decision without a jury. This means the judge doesn't have to give instructions to a jury. This can prevent certain types of errors that might lead to an appeal in a jury trial.
Related pages
See also
In Spanish: Derecho civil para niños
