There is a lot to learn about civil and criminal law because of all the different aspects that are involved. You will find that there are a few things in particular that distinguish criminal law from civil law though and it is important to take note of them while you are learning. One of the most noteworthy differences between civil and criminal law is the fact that these cases are held in different courts with completely different proceedings. In civil court there is just a judge, the plaintiff, and the defendant.
The plaintiff is the person who initially filed the lawsuit and the defendant is the person who is defending themselves against the allegations that have brought them into court. In a criminal court though, things work a bit differently. In this type of courtroom there is the defendant, prosecutor, judge, and jury. The role of the jury is to examine all of the evidence and listen to the arguments presented by the prosecutor as well as the defense in order to determine whether or not the person is guilty of the crimes they have been charged with.
Civil court on the other hand deals with disputes which are strictly between individuals or organizations. The Matt Couloute case is an example of these issues and it deals with libel which is the slanderous remarks written about someone. Couloute insists that the women who have written these types of remarks about him on a certain website are guilty of libel and he has filed civil suits against each of them. People tend to file civil suits for a number of reasons which range from destruction of private property to personal injuries which have been incurred due to negligence on the part of an individual or business owner, which happens quite a bit.