Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals and/or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim. For instance, if a car crash victim claims damages against the driver for loss or injury sustained in an accident, this will be a civil law case. Civil law courts provide a forum for deciding disputes involving torts (such as accidents, negligence, and libel), contract disputes, the probate of wills, trusts, property disputes, administrative law, commercial law, and any other private matters that involve private parties or organizations including government departments. The objectives of civil law are different from other types of law. In civil law there is the attempt to right a wrong, honor an agreement, or settle a dispute. If there is a victim, they get compensation, and the person who is the cause of the wrong pays, this being a civilized form of, or legal alternative to, revenge.
Irwinville is an unincorporated community in Irwin County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Fitzgerald micropolitan area. Irwinville is best known as the site of Jefferson Davis's capture at the end of the Civil War. On May 9, 1865, Jefferson Davis and a small group of officials camped in this pine forest, not knowing that Union calvary soldiers were in hot pursuit. At dawn they were surrounded by two independent groups of Union cavalry who were unaware of each other’s presence. Gunfire ensued until the federal forces realized they had been shooting at one another. Two Union cavalrymen died during the skirmish. Davis was then taken prisoner. The Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site is a Georgia State Park. Though the county seat was originally Irwinville, it has been relocated to Ocilla. Irwinville was also a part of the Works Progress Administration projects in the thirties. A small lakeside recreational area, originally called Crystal Lake (later changed to Crystal Beach) operated just outside of Irwinville from the middle of the twentieth century to 1998.