Civil Law

In the U.S. legal system, civil law is the branch of law concerning disputes between individuals and/or organizations, where a judgment can be the requirement of action, the cessation of action, and/or monetary payments from one party to another. In general, civil law is all law that is not criminal law, which concerns the state charging someone with having committed a crime. Civil law can involve matters of torts, such as accidents and negligence; disputes regarding contracts, property, wills and trusts, marriages, and family issues; and adherence to administrative regulations, commercial laws, civil rights law, and constitutional law. This entry provides an overview of civil law with examples from education.

Some Basics

Civil laws derive from four main sources: (1) statutes written by a legislature, either a ...

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