Issues of Criminal Law - Essay Example

Having difference remedies in civil and criminal cases implies different penalties for prospective offenders. In civil cases, a defendant who loses a case if immune from incarceration or a jail sentence as compared to losers in criminal cases. In general, a defendant in a civil case is only required by law to pay compensation to any losses incurred by the plaintiff (Standler, web). Punishments offered by at the civil and criminal level for a similar case should not correlate in any way. The main reason why the two punishments should not correlate is that civil litigations are aimed at restoring the plaintiff to the initial financial position while criminal punishment offers emotional consolation and therefore the two remedies are not related or equivalent.

Secondly, in criminal cases, the state bears the burden of proof while a plaintiff shoulders the burden of proof in civil cases and the two have different capabilities (Standler, web). Finally, civil cases corporate as the defendant while criminal cases have individuals as the defendant therefore available punishments will have different effects on the two defendants.