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.
Little Switzerland is an unincorporated community in McDowell and Mitchell counties of North Carolina, United States. It is located along NC 226A off the Blue Ridge Parkway, just south of Spruce Pine. At this location, in 1909, on eleven hundred acres surveyed from the top of Grassy Mountain, the "Switzerland Company" was founded by North Carolina State Supreme Court Justice Heriot Clarkson, and became one of the few private resorts on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Its naming illustrates the gradual change in meaning of the 19th century term little Switzerland from an area of limestone formations to one of mountainous appearance. Famous oboist John Mack used to hold an annual "John Mack Oboe Camp" in the community before his death in 2006.