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.
Cozad is a city in Dawson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 4,163 at the 2000 census. The town is on the Great Plains of central Nebraska, along the Union Pacific Railroad and U.S. Highway 30, just north of the Platte River. The 100th meridian, which roughly marks the eastward boundary of the arid plains, passes just west of the town as is marked nearby on a prominent sign across U.S. Highway 30. In the early 1860s, it was a stop along the Pony Express. Cozad is part of the Lexington, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area.