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.
Hermiston is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States, near the junction of I-82 and I-84. U.S. Route 395 also goes through the center of the city. Hermiston is seven miles south of the Columbia River, Lake Wallula, and the McNary Dam. The Umatilla Chemical Depot and the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility are five miles west of the city, northeast of the intersection of I-84 and I-82. As of 2006, the estimated population is 15,410 residents. Hermiston is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Pendleton-Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area, a micropolitan area that covers Morrow and Umatilla counties and had a combined population of 81,544 at the 2000 census.