【正确答案】Criminal law relates to conduct which the State considers with disapproval and which it seeks to control. Criminal law involves the enforcement of particular forms of behaviour, and the State, as the representative of society, acts positively to ensure compliance. Thus, criminal cases are brought by the State in the name of the Crown and cases are reported in the form of Regina v … (Regina is simply Latin for ‘queen’ and case references are usually abbreviated to R v …). In criminal law the prosecutor prosecutes a defendant (or ‘the accused’) and is required to prove that the defendant is guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

【正确答案】Civil law on the other hand, is a form of private law and involves the relationships between individual citizens. It is the legal mechanism through which individuals can assert claims against others and have those rights adjudicated and enforced. The purpose of civil law is to settle disputes between individuals and to provide remedies; it is not concerned with punishment as such. The role of the State in relation to civil law is to establish the general framework of legal rules and to provide the legal institutions to operate those rights, but the activation of the civil law is strictly a matter for the individuals concerned. Contract, tort and property law are generally aspects of civil law, whereas civil cases are referred to by the names of the parties involved in the dispute, for example, Smith v Jones. In civil law, a claimant sues (or ‘brings a claim against’) a defendant and the degree of proof is on the balance of probabilities. In distinguishing between criminal and civil actions, it has to be remembered that the same event may give rise to both. For example, where the driver of a car injures someone through their reckless driving, they will be liable to be prosecuted under the Road Traffic legislation, but at the same time, they will also be responsible to the injured party in the civil law relating to the tort of negligence.

【正确答案】Arbitration is the procedure whereby parties in dispute refer the issue to a third party for resolution, rather than take the case to the ordinary law courts. Studies have shown reluctance on the part of commercial undertakings to have recourse to the law to resolve their disputes and it is common for commercial contracts to have arbitration clauses included in them. As with contractual terms generally, such clauses are binding and the courts will not allow the parties to ignore them and pursue a court case rather than go through with the agreed arbitration procedure. There are numerous advantages to be gained from using arbitration rather than the court system: – Privacy. Arbitration tends to be a private procedure. This has the twofold advantage that outsiders do not get access to any potentially sensitive information and the parties to the arbitration do not run the risk of any damaging publicity arising out of reports of the proceedings. – Informality. The proceedings are less formal than a court case and they can be scheduled more flexibly than court proceedings. – Speed. Arbitration is generally much quicker than taking a case through the courts. Where, however, one of the parties makes use of the available grounds to challenge an arbitration award the prior costs of the arbiration will have been largely wasted. – Cost. Arbitration is generally a much cheaper procedure than taking a case to normal courts. Nonetheless, the costs of arbitration and the use of specialist arbitrators should not be underestimated. – Expertise. The use of a specialist arbitrator ensures that the person deciding the case has expert knowledge of the actual practice within the area under consideration and can form their conclusion in line with accepted practice. – Finality. Appeals on arbitration decisions are limited and once the arbitrator has reached a decision the parties are bound by it and any award can be enforced through court action.