Understanding civil law, one needs to know the history of its origin. As they say, “All roads lead to Rome”, civil law has also originated from the legal institutions of Rome. Its name derives from jus civile, the civil law of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. The jurists were people from upper classes of the Roman society who offered their legal knowledge as a public service. They advised parties to litigation, lay judiciary who presided over the trials and judged the facts of the case.

There were two types of civil judges: the magistrate and the judge for the trial. The jurists in Rome were nonprofessional and were not the government officers, hence they did not charged for their services. Thus, Roman law had an important influence on history of the world. Civil law is usually referred to both the common law and law of equity which have historically operated to different doctrines.

Despite of the universal recognition of the distinction between the private law and public law in the civil law world, there is still no agreement among the civil law attorneys on its theoretical basis and no uniformity as to the scope of private and public law. Private law is that area of the law in which the sole function of government was the recognition and enforcement of private rights. Contrarily, public law is the effectuate of public interest by state action. Private law includes civil and commercial codes, while public includes constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law.

how do you choose a good criminal defense attorney, especially one with whom you are comfortable with and confident in? There are a number of things that you can do to find and pick a great criminal defense attorney.

First, right from the beginning of the process you should choose a lawyer who practices criminal law. While that may sound obvious, some people opt for a lawyer they know, regardless of whether that lawyer specializes in a different area of law. Not choosing a qualified criminal defense specialist can lead to unforeseen problems. Your pending case may get wrapped up in plea bargaining, or you may have to go to trial, and it is best to have a lawyer defending you who is experienced and sharp in either scenario. Attorneys who work in other fields or negotiate in different arenas may not completely understand the many evidential rules in place at trial. They also may not be able to effectively uncover the weaker and stronger points of your case overall. Additionally, an attorney with a specialty other than criminal defense may not be taken seriously by the opposition or the judge, and therefore you and your case defense may not either.

Similarly, it is quite crucial to beware of attorneys who practice too many fields of law. An attorney who attends the needs of a traffic case one day, a workers compensation case the next, and a divorce case the day after that may not have any of the essential requirements, understanding, and background for the needs specific to your criminal defense case. In the end, it is always best to choose a criminal attorney whose practice is exclusive to criminal law.

Second, beware of hype. Many legal advertisements make mention of promised or “guaranteed” results in the cases that attorneys defend. It is virtually impossible to determine whether the outcome of your case will be in your favor and exactly to what degree. When you initially speak with a criminal defense lawyer and they promise concrete and exact results, move on to another attorney. Any attorney worth their salt must evaluate your case before making any assessment, let alone predict the case outcome. Since every case is complex and singular, it takes time and understanding from good defense attorneys who know not to make such false promises.

We hear about law everyday whether we realize it or not. It’s in our Government, in our work, and even in our houses. One type of law is Criminal law, which is also known as Penal law. This is “The body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses.”

Inside of criminal law there is four major theories of criminal justice:
- Punishment
- Deterrence
- Incapacitation
- Rehabilitation

This form of law is essential in many cases because it can distinguis between crimes from civil wrongs. Criminal law has been around for ages, and is seeing as the fundamental system of regulating the behavior of individuals and groups relatively to what is defined as the social norms. This differs between civil crimes, where the difference is between two individuals and their individual rights and obligations under the law which is ruling the entire society.

An example of a civil law case is a dispute between two individuals over a contract that they made to for example sell an automobile. In that case one individual feels that their individual rights for a fair automobile sale have been breached by the other party. Where as in a criminal case, you would have for example a murderer, who is infringing on the right of safety that we all have. Given those two examples I’m sure you can appreciate how important Criminal law is, and the important role that it plays in everyone of our societies.