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.
Providence is a city in Webster County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 3,611 at the 2000 census. The city is named after Providence, Rhode Island. It is located in the southwestern part of the county, east of the Tradewater River. The town was founded by Richard B. Savage, who arrived in the vicinity from Virginia in 1820 with his eldest sister, Mary (Savage) Settler. On February 18, 1840, when the town of Providence was officially sanctioned, it had a population of 150, including three physicians, as well as five stores, two hotels, a school, a Baptist church, a Masonic hall and three tobacco stemmeries. In the heart of the state's Black Patch tobacco-growing region, Providence eventually became the third largest stemming market in America. Providence was incorporated in 1860. The onset of the Civil War slowed economic growth in the city, although no major battles took place there. A Confederate reconnaissance and foraging force commanded by General Nathan Bedford Forrest passed through between November and December of 1861. Commercial coal mining began in 1888, and by 1930 Providence residents numbered 4,742. In the 1930s depressed conditions in the coal fields resulted in a loss of population that continued through the 1960s. Providence' economy remains tied to coal and agriculture.