Civil and public law summary

Civil law concerns disputes among citizens within a country and the main categories of civil law are: torts, probate, contracts, trusts and family law.  Public law concerns disputes between citizens and the state, or between one state and another. The main categories of this law are: crimes, international law and constitutional law.
Criminal and civil procedure are different.  In a criminal action the standards of proof are higher than in a civil, the prosecution must prove the guilt of a criminal "beyond reasonable doubt", but the plaintiff in a civil action is required to prove his case "on the balance of probabilities". Another different is that the party bringing a criminal action is called the prosecution, but the party bringing a civil action is the plaintiff. 
The standard of proof in the civil case is lower than it is in the criminal case, so the guilty defendant in a criminal case will not automatically be found liable in a civil action about the same matter, his chances of avoiding civil liability are not good.  If the loser of a civil case refuses to comply with the order made against him the procedures for forcing him to comply may result in a criminal prosecution.