What Is Civil What Is Civil Law?
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
WHATWHAT ISIS CIVILCIVIL LAW?LAW? COMPILED BY MILLIE AULBUR DIRECTOR OF CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION THE MISSOURI BAR 1 What Is Civil Law? DEFINITION OF CIVIL LAW--Civil law seeks to resolve non-criminal disputes. This includes disagreements over the meanings of contracts, personal injuries (known as “torts”), divorce, child custody, and property damage. A civil court is a place where people can solve their problems with other people peacefully. The function of civil law is for the court to provide a legal remedy to solve these problems so that people do not resort to violence or other unpleasant outcomes. Sometimes civil law is based on a state or federal statute; at other times civil law is based on a ruling by the court, called “common law.” TYPES OF CIVIL CASES Civil law covers a wide spectrum of topics. Some of these topics are: • sports law • negligence • family law • contract law • property law • international law • agricultural law • employment law • animal law • entertainment law • business law • intellectual property law • tax and bankruptcy law • tort law (such as libel, slander, battery, assault, and negligence) PARTIES IN A CIVIL LAW CASE Plaintiff--the person who feels he or she has not been treated fairly by another person. This person brings the case to the court and has the burden of proving that he or she was treated unfairly. Defendant--the person who the Plaintiff claims has treated him or her unfairly. 8 EXAMPLES OF CIVIL LAW CASES ! Contract Law: You have just purchased your first car. In Missouri, you must have car insurance to obtain a title and license for the car. This is a contract between you and your insurance company. Your part is to pay the premiums and not to intentionally harm your car. The insurance company’s part is to pay you when something happens to your car. One day, an engine fire destroys your car. The fire is an accident; no one is to blame. Your insurance policy specifically states the insurance will pay you for the value of the car. The insurance company refuses to pay, and so you sue the insurance company for the value of the car. ! Family Law: Your best friend’s parents get a divorce. The judge awards custody of your friend’s sister to the mother and of your friend to the father. The friend and sister want to live together. They ask a lawyer to change the custody order. ! Intellectual Property Law: You are an aspiring writer who posted a story on the Internet. This story belongs to you, and you have noted that the story is yours with a copyright line. However, a few months after posting your story, you see the same story, with a different title and someone else claiming authorship printed in a magazine. You may sue the magazine and the alleged new author for pirating your story. ! Tort Law: You are a basketball star who was late for practice. You rushed out your door and tripped over your neighbor’s dog. You broke your ankle, causing you to incur medical expenses and miss the entire basketball season. You think your neighbors should pay for your expenses, as well as for you missing the season because they should have kept their dog in their own yard. When you sue your neighbors, they will say you should have been more careful; the dog was barking at you, so you should have known it was there and not tripped. The neighbors may claim that, even though their dog was at your door, your injuries were at least partially your fault because you didn’t look where you were going. At the trial, a jury will decide who is more at fault and will award damages (money). (This is called comparative negligence; the jury has to evaluate the two sides and determine who is more at fault.) 9 The Differences Between Criminal and Civil Law Cases A state circuit court and a federal district court handle both civil and criminal cases. Criminal and civil cases are distinct from one another in the following ways: Criminal Law Civil Law 1. The Plaintiff is always the state or 1. Both the Plaintiff and the Defendant may federal government. The Defendant may be anybody, including governments, be anybody, including governments, corporations, and individuals. corporations, and individuals. 2. A crime is determined by either a state 2. Civil law is established both through or federal statute, which is created by the state and federal statutes and through legislature. common law, which is made up of past court decisions. 3. The Plaintiff has to prove that the 3. The burden of proof in a civil trial is Defendant is guilty “beyond a “preponderance of the evidence,” which reasonable doubt.” This is called the sometimes is defined as “more likely burden of proof and means that the jury than not.” In other words, it is likely has to find that it is very likely that the that the Defendant is guilty, but the jury Defendant committed the crime. does not have to be as certain as in a criminal trial. 4. The jury decision in a criminal trial must 4. In Missouri, the jury decision must be 9- be unanimous, meaning that every jury 3 for the plaintiff to win. States vary. member has to agree. Federal courts require unanimous verdicts. 5. In a criminal case, the Defendant is ruled 5. In a civil case, the plaintiff and the to be either guilty or not guilty. defendant may both be found partially right and partially at fault. 6. If the Defendant loses, he or she may be 6. If the Defendant loses in a civil case, he punished by paying a fine and/or going or she cannot be imprisoned, even if he to jail. or she cannot pay the damages. 7. Only the Defendant may appeal in a 7. Either party may appeal in a civil case. criminal case. To appeal a case means to have it re-examined by a group of judges. 10 PROCEDURE IN A CIVIL CASE 1. The Plaintiff files a complaint with the appropriate court. A complaint is a document that describes why the Plaintiff is suing the Defendant. 2. The Plaintiff must file this complaint within a certain amount of time from when the event causing damage occurred; this is called the statute of limitations. The statute of limitation is a law that tells the Plaintiff how much time he or she has to file his or her complaint. Statutes of limitations generally range from one to ten years. If the Plaintiff is under age 21, the state of limitations does not begin until the Plaintiff turns 21. Some examples of statutes of limitations are: ! Two years—most intentional torts such as slander, libel, battery and assault, and most negligence cases ! Five years—contract violations, trespass on real estate, possible fraud ! Ten years—any action for payment of money or property 3. The Plaintiff may file the complaint in either federal or state court, depending on what the complaint is about and what the Plaintiff wants. (The Plaintiff also has to pay a filing fee, or a small amount of money to file his or her complaint.) ! State Court 1. If the complaint is by a Missouri resident or company against another Missouri resident or company, the usual place to file a lawsuit is in the Circuit Court in the county in which one of the parties resides. For example, if you live in Jefferson County and want to sue someone who lives in Cole County, you could file your lawsuit in either Jefferson County or Cole County. 2. If the Complaint if about a Missouri state law, it should be filed in a Missouri State Court. ! Federal Court 1. If only one of the parties is from Missouri and the Plaintiff seeks at least $75,000 in damages, the Plaintiff may file the complaint in a federal court. For instance, if you live in Missouri and want to sue someone who lives in Illinois for $100,000, you may file your complaint in Federal Court in either Missouri or Illinois. 2. If the complaint is about a federal law, the Plaintiff must file in a federal court. ! Other types of courts are available, depending on the issue. For example, the Plaintiff may file in Small Claims court if he or she seeks less than $3,000 in damages. Family courts handle matters such as divorce and child custody. 11 Probate courts examine people’s wills to see who receives a person’s possession after he or she dies. Other examples include Bankruptcy court, Juvenile court, and Traffic court. 4. The court issues a summons or writ. These are letters that tell the Defendant that the Plaintiff is suing the Defendant and why. 5. The summons is delivered to the Defendant by mail, by the person bringing the suit, by the sheriff, or by a service agent. This is called service of process. 6. The Defendant usually hires an attorney who files an answer to the Plaintiff’s complaint. An answer is a document that either admits or denies the allegations in the Plaintiff’s complaint. Most of the time, the answer will deny the Plaintiff’s allegations. 7. Usually, a period of discovery follows. Discovery is when the parties exchange relevant documents and conduct depositions, in which the parties and possible witnesses are placed under oath and interviewed. This process useful because each party can learn what his or her opponent plans to say at trial. 8. The parties then ask the judge to set the case for trial.