Chapter 2

• Jurisdiction: United States

Before exploring the nature of courts, we should know a little bit about the disputes they resolve.

There are many kinds of disputes. In court, they are generally described as civil or criminal. Understanding what is criminal is easy. A crime occurs when a person or corporation commits an act forbidden by law as an offense against the government (federal, state, city) that carries a possible sentence of a fine or imprisonment. Criminal law, enforced only by the government, punishes.

Civil law, on the other hand, does not seek to punish (though a civil case can end in a ruling that in fact punishes because of special financial penalties.) Its basic purpose is to restore the injured parties to where they were before an improper act by another party. Civil lawsuits may be brought by the government but also may be brought by private parties, including corporations. A couple of examples will help.

Jones and Smith agree in...