What's Civil and What's Criminal?
Unlike the criminal trial in which the focus is processing the accused, a civil case focuses on the damage done to the victim and on compensating him or her for physical, emotional, and financial losses.
A civil action can obtain compensation to pay for medical expenses, counseling, lost earnings and earning capacity, and pain and suffering.
Sometimes civil actions can be an option when a case is not viable for criminal prosecution because a civil case requires a less rigorous standard of proof.
Only civil cases can be pursued against third parties whose actions or inactions may have contributed to a crime. And only civil cases can be undertaken for family members of crime victims.