Introduction to the Law

“Dual Liability may arise from the same set of facts, however the two branches of the law have very different purposes, procedures and resulting penalties will differ.”
The English legal system has two types of law, criminal and civil law, they deal with different things in different ways.
A crime is wrong against the state, which will be also be punished by the state, in one side we have the wrongdoer and the other we have the state or the crown court, the aim is to punish the wrongdoer to also make sure it does not repeat itself. Serious cases such as murder are dealt with by a judge or a jury, less serious offences (breach of peace) are dealt with by magistrates, the parties that are present at the prosecution and the defendant. The crown prosecution must prove the case with no doubts; if the defendant is found guilty, they will be convicted by the judge or the jury if not, they found not guilty, sanctions and punishment include imprisonment, fines and community order. Criminal cases are brought by the state in the name of Crown. A criminal case example would be in the R v Lamb 1967 where the defendant was convicted of manslaughter having shot and killed a friend. He did not intend to injury his friend as both them did not know how guns worked, there were two bullets inside, but they thought there was no danger pulling a trigger, but when the defendant did the victim was killed.
In a civil law case, the civil action is between the wrongdoer and the potential victim and the aim is to compensate the victim for the harm done. Civil law comes under the private law which a relationship between certain individuals which are also citizens. In this legal process the individuals can claim against each other confidentially. The main purpose in civil law is to settle a negotiation