№ 2. Письменно ответьте на вопросы по-английски. 3) Who usually starts criminal actions in England and in Russia?

4) Who starts civil actions?

Civil and public law: differences in procedure

Most countries make a rather clear distinction between civil and criminal procedures. For example, an English criminal court may force a defendant to pay a fine as punishment for his crime, and he may sometimes have to pay the legal costs of the prosecution. But the victim of the crime pursues his claim for compensation in a civil, not a criminal, action. (In France, however, a victim of a crime may be awarded damages by a criminal court judge).The standards of proof are higher in a criminal action that in civil one since the loser risks not only financial penalties but also being sent to prison, ( or in some countries, executed). In English law the prosecution must prove the quilt of a criminal “beyond reasonable doubt”, but the plaintiff in a civil action is required to prove his case “on the balance of probabilities”. Thus, in a civil case a сrime cannot be proved if the person or persons judging in doubt the guilt of the suspect and have a reason (not just a feeling or intuition) for his doubt. But, in a civil case, the court will weight all the evidence and decide what is most probable. Criminal and civil procedures are different. Although some systems, including the English, allow a private citizen to bring a criminal prosecution against another citizen, criminal actions are nearly always started by the state. Civil actions, on the other hand, are usually started by individuals.

rayanova81    2   20.02.2022 09:48    1