Page updated on: Friday April 23, 2010
Civil Law Property and Debt
Civil law is the body of law that relates to the private rights of individuals. This body of law deals with such things as contracts, consumer rights, trespass, negligence, debt, buying and selling property, etc., and is quite different from criminal law which deals with crimes such as murders, robberies, fraud, etc.
A major difference between civil and criminal law is that the standard of proof in civil cases is a greater amount of evidence for than against in a balancing of the probabilities, which is a weaker standard than absence of a reasonable doubt, which is the standard of proof in criminal cases.
A distinguishing feature of the civil law in New Zealand is the existence of an Accident Compensation scheme, which is a system by which comprehensive coverage is provided for personal injury as a result of an accident. However, the Accident Compensation scheme has removed the right of an individual to sue for personal injury damages.
Accordingly, the scope of civil law has been limited to claims other than those of personal injury that are covered by ACC.