Civil law

laws which regulate private matters (as opposed to criminal or military matters); method of lawmaking that began in ancient Rome

Civil law may refer to:Civil law (common law),the area of law in common law countries governing relations between private individualsCivil law (legal system), a system of law based on the Corpus Juris Civilis prevalent in continental Europe, Central and South America, South Africa, Scotland, Québec, and LouisianaCivil law (civil law), the area of law in civil law countries governing relations between private individuals, it is a part of private law.Private law, those matters concerned with the rights and duties of individuals towards each otherCivil code, the systematic compilation of civil law
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Noun
1. the body of laws established by a state or nation for its own regulation
(antonym) international law, law of nations
(hypernym) law, jurisprudence
(hyponym) case law, precedent, common law
(classification) law, jurisprudence
(class) case law, precedent, common law
2. the legal code of ancient Rome; codified under Justinian; the basis for many modern systems of civil law
(synonym) Roman law, Justinian code, jus civile
(hypernym) legal code
(class) addiction

The code regulating conduct between private persons. It is to be distinguished from criminal law, which regulates individual conduct and is enforced by the government. Under civil law, the government provides the forum for the settlement of disputes between private parties in such matters as contracts, domestic relations, business relations and auto accidents. In a civil suit the government may be either the plaintiff or defendant. In a criminal case the government is always the prosecution.

Law inspired by old Roman Law, the primary feature of which was that laws were written into a collection; codified, and not determined, as is common law, by judges. - (read more on Civil law)