Civil cases generally involve private disputes between individuals or organizations. Criminal cases involve actions considered harmful to society as a whole (therefore, they are considered crimes against the “state” or the jurisdiction of the prosecution service). Although criminal law and civil law are different, there is a certain intersection.
A civil lawsuit generally begins when a person or business (called a "plaintiff") claims to have been harmed by the actions of another person or business (called a "defendant"). The plaintiff initiates legal action by filing a “claim” (a document outlining the plaintiff's legal facts and theories and submitting a claim for relief). In the complaint, the complainant may:
Ask the court for "damages", that is, money to compensate the plaintiff for any damage suffered.
Request an "injunction", which is a court order to prevent the defendant from doing anything or compel the defendant to do something
Request a "declaratory judgment", which is a court order declaring the rights of the parties under a contract or a law
Ultimately, a judge or jury will determine the facts of the case (in other words, find out what really happened) and then apply the appropriate law to those facts. Based on their analysis of the law and the facts, the judge or jury will reach a conclusion “judgment” (sometimes also called a "decision" or "order") and decide what legal consequences flow from the parties' actions.
Types of cases brought before civil courts
Civil courts deal with a wide variety of cases involving many legal issues. In a very broad sense, civil matters can involve things such as, for example,
Tort claims: A "tort" is an illegal act (sometimes called an "tortious" act), others a breach of contract, which results in injury to person, property, reputation, or other, to which the injured party is entitled to compensation. Cases involving claims for things like personal injury, assault, negligence, libel, medical malpractice, fraud, and many more are all examples.
Breach of contractual claims: A breach of contract usually results from a person's failure to comply with certain terms of a contract, whether written or oral, without any legitimate legal justification. Cases involving claims for such things as non-completion of work, non-payment in full or on time, failure to deliver goods sold or promised, and many more are all examples.
Equitable claims: An “equitable claim” requires the court to order a party to take action or stop an action. It may or may not be combined with an action for pecuniary damages. Cases, where a party seeks a temporary restraining order or an injunction to stop something (perhaps destruction of property, improper transfer of land, solicitation of a company's customers), are examples.
Landlord/tenant issues: Examples of cases where a landlord is trying to evict a tenant from a rental property or a tenant have moved out and released a landlord for the return of a security deposit.