Tort versus Criminal Cases

In the U.S. system of justice there are two main bodies of laws that govern the conduct of the American citizens; these are the civil law and the criminal law.

In civil law, the accident falls on the individual entity, either a person or a business. Civil law mainly deals with the cases when one party fails to respect the terms of a legal contract and the cases when a tort is committed by an entity to another party. The term tort is an old French word, literary meaning "wrong". So, a tort case happens when someone commits a wrongdoing that affects the physical, emotional, or financial integrity of another party. Basically, all civil suits which aim to obtain a financial or another form of compensation for the victim of a wrongdoing is a tort case.

On the other hand, the criminal law aims to protect the society as a whole rather than the individual. Crimes affect not only individual victims, but also the very structure of our society; therefore criminal law is enforced by the State through its legal representatives. When a burglary happens, the victim doesn't need to file a lawsuit as it happens in criminal law, the state will do it on the victim's behalf.

Sometimes the boundary between the civil and criminal law is blurred. Here is an example: In Denver, Colorado, a drunk driver smashes his car into another vehicle and causes an injury to the driver. After investigation, criminal charges are brought against the perpetrator that eventually concludes with the sentencing of the defendant to two years of imprisonment. But, the victim of the accident can enlist the services of a Denver injury law firm in order to obtain compensation from the perpetrator, to cover for the medical expenditures and for the emotional distress. The injury law firm in Denver will act according to the state and federal laws and file a suit against the author of the tort, in a civil court. Therefore, the drunk driver will be tried twice for the same misconduct, once in the criminal system and once in the civil system.

Torts often rely on less evidence to be accepted by the jury in order for the plaintiff to win the suit. This happens because in civil law, the judgment is made based on the preponderance of evidence principle. This means that the Denver law firm representing the plaintiff only needs to produce in court more evidence that the tort occurred than the attorney of the defendant produces. The tort system contrasts in this matter with criminal justice, where, to pronounce a defendant as guilty, the jury needs to have proof beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the charge.

In our example it is possible that, for various reasons, the criminal charges are dropped against the drunk driver. Nevertheless, this wouldn't prevent the victim of the accident to ask the law firm in Denver to bring the case in front of a civil court. In the civil system less proof is necessary for a sentence to be obtained against the defendant, there are numerous cases when plaintiffs win a tort case, despite the perpetrator being found not guilty in a criminal court.

Susan Slobac is a consultant in the personal injury industry. Susan writes about trends in Denver car accident lawyer & Denver medical malpractice lawyer.