civil Adj.

1) Civil law is the law that applies to private rights as opposed to the law that applies to criminal matters.

The United States had preserved the right to a jury in civil cases.

2) Civil law may also refer to the body of law developed from Roman law and used in places such as Louisiana, continental Europe, and in many other countries outside of the common law world.

France is usually described as a country of civil law as opposed to a country of common law.

see common law