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> just as they are in the US. This is incorrect. Far from unheard of, the civil justice system in the US is, in fact, frequently used as a secondary route of r
by nbadg 2y ago
> just as they are in the US.
This is incorrect. Far from unheard of, the civil justice system in the US is, in fact, frequently used as a secondary route of recourse by private persons, regardless of the existence or outcome of a criminal prosecution. The legal test used to determine liability (in civil justice) is different from the legal test used to determine culpability (in criminal justice), and therefore, you can also have mixed outcomes. Furthermore, civil law in the US focuses on "making the plaintiff whole", vs criminal law which focuses on sanctioning the defendent. As a result, civil cases might be the only way in which a victim of a crime could get any form of compensation from the perpetrator.
One extremely high-profile case in the US was, of course, that of OJ Simpson [1], who was found not guilty of murder in a criminal case, but liable in a civil one, for the exact same action.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson
- impossiblefork 2y agoYes, but private prosecutions in Sweden are not civil cases. Civil cases we have, just as you do, and they were very accessible, but private prosecutions are something different.
- Brian_K_White 2y agoSince it was in quotes I assumed that was a euhemism.
- shiroiushi 2y agoYeah, I thought they were referring to vigilantism.
- tialaramex 2y agoRight. A prosecution is about whether somebody committed a crime, the standard required is "Beyond Reasonable Doubt" and the consequence is punishment, for example a fine, prison time or, if you're barbarians, physical punishment such as whipping or execution. O J wasn't send to jail as a result of the civil lawsuit, he went to jail because he's a crook.
- giantg2 2y agoIn the US they're called private criminal complaints. For more serious crimes, they usually require the prosecutor's office to approve then handle them. They almost always decline though.
- nbadg 2y agoI'm not familiar with the Swedish justice system, so it's still a little unclear exactly what you're referring to. But if you mean a true private prosecution [1], these aren't so much "unheard of" in the US as just outright forbidden federally (and in most states). This gets very complicated very quickly though, because each state in the US has its own set of rules, procedures, statutes, constitutions, and court systems for handling justice re: state crimes. At any rate, sorry for the misinterpretation. To be completely honest, I wasn't even aware that private prosecution was an actual thing, I assumed it was just a mistranslation or colloquialism for a civil tort case. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prosecution#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prosecution#United_Sta...