Civil lawsuits arise out of disputes involving folks, organizations, or other entities, which includes government entities. In most civil-law nations, proof other than documentary evidence may be introduced only pursuant to a precise court order detailing the matter on which such proof is to be received and the type that such proof is to take (witnesses, specialists, etc.). The climactic and decisive component of an Anglo-American civil action is the trial, in which the parties present their proof in a concentrated fashion to a single judge and occasionally to a jury.

By contrast, in England, exactly where the civil jury trial originated, the jury has fallen into just about complete disuse in civil cases, except in suits of defamation. The court should, in quick, either settle the case or place it in shape for the formal hearing. In civil-law systems the court will proceed to a plenary hearing if the … Read the rest >>>