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.
Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The population was 25,586 at the 2000 census. Zanesville was named after Ebenezer Zane, who had constructed Zane's Trace, a pioneer road through present-day Ohio. He settled in the area in 1797 with his son-in-law, John McIntire, at the point where Zane's Trace met the Muskingum River. From 1810-1812, the city was the second state capital of Ohio. The National Road runs through Zanesville as U.S. Route 40. Novelist Zane Grey, a descendant of the Zane family, was born in the city. The city has two engineering landmarks: the Muskingum River Parkway and its 160-year-old navigation system, designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark; and the Zanesville Y-Bridge, the only such structure in the United States and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.