Criminal Law

Statutory, Case, & Administrative Law

• Statutory Law
• Enacted and passed by legislative bodies
• Laws cannot violate constitutions
• Congress/state legislatures
• Case Law
• Laws that emerge from court decisions
• Interpretations
• Reviews of statutes, legsislation
• Administrative Law
• Rules and laws of regulatory agencies
• Created by agencies to carry out duties

Civil Law v. Criminal Law

• Crime is an act that violates a law
• Civil law – deals with private and public rights, not criminal issues
• This can involve disputes between individuals, corporations, contracts
• Civil court – plantiff (victim) must prove a wrong was committed
• Financial rewards in many instances
• Ex: OJ Simpson case, $8.5 million to familes
• Sometimes individuals face both criminal and civil trial
• Easier to win a civil trial than criminal trial
• Burden of proof in criminal trials – beyond a reasonable doubt
• Burden of proof in civil trials – proponderance of the evidence (more than 50 percent likely)