Definition of Civil action

1. Noun. Legal action to protect a private civil right or to compel a civil remedy (as distinguished from criminal prosecution).

Generic synonyms: Action, Action At Law, Legal Action

Definition of Civil action

1. Noun. (legal) : In the United States, a lawsuit between private parties, including an action by a private person against a government entity, which will be treated as a private party by the court ¹

2. Noun. Roman Dutch Law: a lawsuit which is not criminal in nature. It may be between the state and a private party. It is usually based in contract, or delict (tort). ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Civil Action

civic responsibility
civic spirit
civically
civicism
civicisms
civics
civie
civies
civil
civil-law
civil-libertarian
civil-marriage
civil-service
civil-services
civil-society
civil action (current term)
civil authority
civil censorship
civil contempt
civil day
civil death
civil defense
civil discourse
civil disobedience
civil disorders
civil enforcement officer
civil enforcement officers
civil engineer
civil engineering
civil engineers

Literary usage of Civil action

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Palmer's Index to "The Times" Newspaper (1884)
"m lie ' Law (ro/i/i'ni(_'rfx LAW: — — Actions in Common Law. »re civil action« - in the Superior Courts, »te civil action» — Appeal Cases, see civil action» ..."

2. United States Supreme Court Reports by Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, United States Supreme Court (1907)
"The civil action of the Code is a )stitute for all such judicial proceedings prior thereto, were known either as ac fls at law or suits in equity. § 3. ..."

3. Supreme Court Reporter by Robert Desty, United States Supreme Court, West Publishing Company (1909)
"In the latter case, which was an action of debt, based upon an English statute, Lord Mansfield said that a penal action "is as much a civil action as an ..."

4. The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I by Frederick Pollock, Frederic William Maitland (1899)
"We must repeat once more that every cause for a civil action is an offence, and that every cause for a civil action in the king's court is an offence ..."

5. Judicial and Statutory Definitions of Words and Phrases by West Publishing Company (1905)
"It is a civil action, In so far as the divorce act In Itself falls to ... If the divorce procedure is it a civil action. As the marriage relation is a ..."

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