Civil and public law. Summary

The important difference between private and public law is that civil law solves issues among citizens within a country, whereas public law solves issues between citizens and the state, or between states. The main categories of English civil law are contracts, torts, trusts, probate, family law and the main categories of public law are crimes, Constitutional Law, International law. English criminal court may compel a defendant to pay a fine for his wrongdoing and sometimes to pay the legal costs of the prosecution, but the claim for victim’s compensation is pursued in a civil, not a criminal, action, whereas in France a victim may be awarded damages by a criminal court judge. The standards of proof are higher in a criminal action than in a civil one because loser takes the risk not only of financial penalties but also of sending to prison therefore his chances of avoiding civil liability are not good. The guilt of a criminal must be proven by the prosecution “beyond reasonable doubt” but the plaintiff in a civil action is necessary to prove his case “on the balance of probabilities” in English law. Evidences, which show that defendant is liable, help to award damages, which the defendant should pay to the plaintiff. Thus, the loser of the action must to pay amount of money to the winner of the action due to his injury. In any court disobeying loser may constitute a criminal conduct.