1.

Differences between Criminal and civil cases

Criminal cases- the offender has broken the law and has harmed the victim and the
community. The State has both the legal and moral responsibility to step in and
intervene by charging the offender and ensuring that justice takes place. If a crime has
been committed, a formal process is set in motion and the state will take steps to punish
the offender. These steps will take the form of a trial. The state is always involved in a
Criminal matter and we say that the state prosecutes the accused person on behalf of
society. The state acts behalf of the victim instead of the victim having to exact justice
for him.
Civil cases- are subject of the law of procedure and form part of private law. There are
two kinds of civil cases namely summons and application procedures. The parties to a
civil case are called the plaintiff( who feels wronged) and the defendant(against whom
the action has been instituted). The aim is to settle disagreements between persons and
to find out whether the defendant has to pay damages or compensation to the plaintiff.
These damages are not necessarily for monetary loss that the plaintiff has suffered.
They may be for physical harm or may be for any psychological harm.
2.1. Both Civil case and criminal case. It will be heard in the regional court
2.2. Civil case and it will be heard in the magistrate’s court
2.3. Criminal case. It will be heard in the magistrate’s court
2.4. Criminal case. It will be heard in the magistrate’s courts
2.5 Criminal case. It will be heard in the regional court
3. Negotiation – The parties may try to reach agreement in order to solve their
differences. In other words, they talk to each other or negotiate about their problem and
try to solve it by coming up with a solution that suits both sides
Mediation- A process in which people agree to negotiate in a non adversarial way .
They agree to have an impartial third party called a mediator who act as a go between
or facilitator to help them settle their dispute. The mediator has no decision making
powers. The parties still decide the outcome of the dispute themselves.
Arbitration- where people agree to have an independent third person called an arbitrator
who listen to their arguments and make decisions that both parties agree in advance to
accept as binding to then. However negotiation and mediation are not binding on the
parties which means that the matter may still go to court if they are not satisfied with the
outcome. The decision if an arbitrator is usually final and binding and has to be
accepted.