Criminal Law Johan

1) Discuss the primary differences between civil litigation and criminal prosecution.

Despite the fact that civil litigation and criminal prosecution cases are viewed in the same courts, the goals, purposes, and results greatly differ. The parties involved in either a civil litigation or criminal prosecution are different. In civil litigation a party sues another party in an attempt to receive a type of remedy like money, property, or performance. The goal of civil litigation is to compensate an injured party for the wrongdoing caused. A criminal prosecution has the United States government as the party responsible for conducting the prosecution. The defendant is the party that is being prosecuted for committing a criminal act. The main goal of a criminal prosecution is to punish a defendant that is found guilty of committing a crime (Meyn, 2017).

2) Why are criminal defendants given more rights than civil litigants? Provide some examples of the rights afforded to criminal defendants.

More rights are afforded to criminal defendants than civil litigants for several reasons. The consequences that derive from criminal litigation tend to be significantly more serious than the consequences that derive from civil litigation. During a criminal trial the defendant has the potential to be fined, punished in alternative methods, or even incarcerated. The consequences for a civil trial could include a fine but does not have the possibility of the punishment methods from the civil side of things. Some of the examples of the rights that are afforded to criminal defendants are the right to counsel, the protection from self-incrimination, and the right to present evidence and cross-examine any prosecution witnesses or evidence (Meyn, 2017).

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