ABA Family Legal Guide

Criminal Justice

The Basics of Criminal Law

How do civil and criminal law differ?

Civil matters are private matters, which involve the plaintiff suing the defendant for a money award, often in combination with other orders of the court, like an injunction to make a party stop a course of action.

A crime is considered a wrong against the public. Although a criminal defendant may have injured only one victim directly, any violation of the criminal laws harms society. Criminal cases are always initiated by the government, which has a monopoly on bringing charges. The defendant in criminal cases is usually a person and very rarely a corporation. While victims of crime may be consulted, they have no power to make the prosecutor bring charges or to prevent the prosecutor from dropping charges. A convicted defendant may be ordered to pay a fine, given probation, given community service, or sentenced to jail or prison, or even death.