What is Civil law (common law)?
{{Hatnote|Not to be confused with the [[civil law]] legal system}} [[File:Statua Iustitiae.jpg|thumb|right|165px]] '''Civil law''' is a branch of the [[law]] in [[common law]] [[countries]].<ref name=Sidlow321>Edward Sidlow; Beth Henschen, ''America at Odds'' (Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007), p. 321</ref> The other branch of common law is [[criminal law]]. Civil law is concerned with the duties individuals owe to other people or to their [[government]]. This excludes the duty not to commit [[crimes]].<ref name=Sidlow321/> The [[United States|American]] form of civil justice is considerably different from [[Europe]]an systems.<ref name=Mehren162>Arthur T. von Mehren; Peter L. Murray, ''Law in the United States'', Second Edition (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 162–163</ref> Two features stand out, [[class action]]s and the awarding of [[punitive damages]] in [[tort]] cases.<ref name=Mehren162/> Many people in other countries are amazed at the number of civil cases in the United States. Americans [[lawsuit|sue]] in a wide variety of cases for [[Damages|compensation]] and [[medical]] [[expense]]s that are covered in other countries by national [[health insurance]] and government compensation programs.<ref name=Mehren162/> == Civil cases == Civil law is concerned with cases such as [[divorce]], [[child custody]] and [[Child support|support]] and related lawsuits.<ref name=hcwABA>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/law_related_education_network/how_courts_work/cases.html |title=How Courts Work |publisher=The American Bar Association (ABA) |access-date=18 February 2016}}</ref> [[Contract]] cases, tort cases (when someone is hurt and seeks compensation) and crimes which are tried in a criminal court and then tried in a civil case.<ref name=hcwABA/> [[Examples]] would be cases resulting from [[drunk driving]] or [[hit and run]].<ref name=hcwABA/> Civil cases use a lower [[preponderance of the evidence]] standard of [[wikt:proof|proof]] whereas criminal cas