civil laws
Non-criminal legal codes
Civil laws govern relationships between private parties—individuals, businesses, or organizations—rather than matters between the state and citizens.
Civil law covers contracts, property, family matters, and personal injury: She filed a civil lawsuit after the accident.
Distinguished from criminal law, where the government prosecutes offenses against society.
Civil laws typically result in monetary damages or court orders rather than imprisonment.
- legal systemStructure governing justice
- actDeed or performance
- rightsJustified claims to freedoms
- contract lawRules governing binding agreements
- binding agreementEnforceable mutual commitment
marriage contract · legal code · code · written law · family law · municipal codes · duties · legislation · Roman law · codification · property law · property rights · tort law · personal injury · statute law · Napoleonic Code · obligations · due process
- lawsstatute, ordinance, acts, statutes, federal statute
- state lawsstate statutes, state code, state constitution, criminal code, WAC
- ancient lawsCode of Hammurabi, Hammurabi, Roman law, Twelve Tables, Ten Commandments
civil lawscriminal laws
Rules governing prosecutable offenses
criminal statutes · criminal code · penal code · criminal justice · martial law
civil lawsreligious laws
Rules from sacred doctrine
divine law · canon law · Mosaic law · natural law · moral law
civil lawssocial customs
Accepted communal behaviors
unwritten rules · social conventions · cultural traditions · moral codes · etiquette