THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY

                                                             SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES    

                                                                               

                                                                     

Student Name: CHISHIMBA GREENSON LUNGU

Course Number / Course name: LS131/ LEGAL CONTEXT,SKILL AND ETHICS.
Term: JUNE 2022
Instructors Name: CHISANGA MUTALE
Date of Submission: 14th JUNE 2022
Assignment 2
Before we can establish whether a civil case can also be a criminal case it's important
first to understand the definitions of both a civil and criminal case.According to
goguen(2022) A civil case is where private individual or entity through a court process
holds Private individual or entity liable for some type of harm or wrongful act.On the
other hand a criminal case is a type of court case in which the plaintiff is the state and
the defendant is tried for deeds that is considered to be unconstitutional according to
the state’s legislature, or the government(Peeler,2022).The major difference between a
civil case and a criminal case is that in a criminal case a crime is committed against the
state, while in a civil case a dispute is brought about by private
parties(Mark ,2021).They are many examples of cases that can be both civil and
criminal.This is a possibility because the two proceedings apply different principles to
resolve different issues. For example,A person can both break a criminal law and at the
same time commit a legal wrong against a private individual with the same conduct.The
criminal case requires a high standard of proof to make a conviction,it has to be beyond
reasonable doubt and while in a civil case for the court to determine if the defendant is
liable it requires a lower standard of proof(preponderance of the evidence)(mark,2021).
For example, a person who has knowingly killed another person can be given a charge
of Murder by the criminal court and can also be sued by family members of deceised
according to civils rights for wrongful death. Another example is that A person who
takes your vehicle can be charged in a criminal court with larceny and can be sued in a
civil court for conversion. Therefore, if a person has done a legal wrongdoing against
someone else,the aggrieved will need to bring a civil claim in order for them to be
compensated but, depending on the crime, there’s also the a likelihood that that
criminal charges may also be slapped(fair punishment 2022).So,in the case of assault
for example, the person assaulted may receive compensation from the accused and
the offender may also be arrested and charged with the crime of assault(fair
punishment 2022).Lastly, if a drunk driver smash another driver or a pedestrian kills
them. In such a case, the driver will be charged with Driving Under the Influence(DUI) in
a criminal court and the deceased person’s family is at liberty to sue the driver for
wrongful death.This may result in the driver going to prison and also compensation
towards the deceased family(Mark,2021).

In conclusion i would say in my country Zambia most cases that needed to go to the
civil courts for compensation for aggrieved parties were unsuccessful because of poor
economic status of offenders and lack of knowledge by aggrieved parties.Hence i feel in
future there is need to create awareness on available legal provisions for compensation
and dispute resolutions.
 References
Fair punishment (2022) Retrieved from https://fairpunishment.org/how-can-a-case-be-both-
criminal-and-civil/
goguen(2022) What Is a Civil Lawsuit? Retrieved from
https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/personal-injury/what-civil-lawsuit.html
Mark (2021) can a case both be criminal and civil? Retrieved from
https://www.markicohenattorneynyc.com/can-a-court-case-be-both-criminal-and-civil/
Peeler(2022) What is a criminal case? Retrieved from https://www.legalmatch.com/law-
library/article/what-is-a-criminal-case.html