What Is the Difference Between Civil and Criminal Law?
By the BrainSnail editorial team. How these articles are written and checked, and how to tell us when one is wrong.
Criminal law deals with offences against society and is brought by the state. Civil law deals with disputes between parties and is brought by the person who claims to have been wronged. Almost every other difference follows from that starting point.
Who brings the case
In a criminal case the state prosecutes. Even when there is an individual victim, the case is brought in the name of the public, which is why criminal cases carry titles referring to the state or the crown rather than the victim's name.
In a civil case a private party sues another. That party might be a person, a company or even a government acting in its ordinary capacity. The victim of a crime does not decide whether a prosecution happens, but they can usually bring a civil claim regardless.
The standard of proof
This is the most consequential difference. Criminal cases require proof beyond reasonable doubt, an intentionally demanding standard reflecting how serious the consequences are.
Civil cases usually require proof on the balance of probabilities, meaning more likely than not. That is a much lower bar. It is entirely possible to be acquitted of a crime and then lose a civil case arising from the same events, which is not a contradiction but a difference in what had to be proved.
What happens if you lose
The outcomes are different in kind rather than degree:
- •Criminal: fines paid to the state, community orders, or imprisonment
- •Criminal: a permanent record affecting employment and travel
- •Civil: damages paid to the other party as compensation
- •Civil: injunctions ordering someone to do or stop doing something
- •Civil: no criminal record and normally no imprisonment
When the same act is both
A single incident can generate both types of case. A dangerous driver may face criminal prosecution by the state and a civil claim from the injured person seeking compensation.
The two proceed separately, with different standards and different aims. Criminal law is concerned with punishment and deterrence on behalf of society. Civil law is concerned with putting the wronged party back into the position they would have been in.
Other differences worth knowing
Legal representation differs. In serious criminal cases most systems guarantee a lawyer regardless of ability to pay, because liberty is at stake. In civil cases you generally pay your own way, which is why access to justice is a persistent concern in civil matters.
Terminology differs too. Criminal cases involve a defendant who is convicted or acquitted. Civil cases involve a claimant and a defendant, and one party is found liable rather than guilty. Using guilty about a civil case is a common but meaningful error.
Where most cases actually end up
Trials are the exception rather than the rule in both systems. The overwhelming majority of criminal cases are resolved by guilty pleas, often following negotiation about charges or sentence, and the proportion reaching a full contested trial is small.
Civil cases follow a similar pattern, with most settling before reaching a courtroom, since litigation is expensive and outcomes are uncertain. This means the adversarial trial that dominates public imagination is statistically unusual, and reforms aimed at trials alone miss where most of the system's decisions are actually made.
The takeaway
Criminal law is brought by the state, requires proof beyond reasonable doubt and can result in punishment, while civil law is brought by a private party, requires only the balance of probabilities and results in compensation or orders.