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.
Dutch John is a small unincorporated town located in eastern Daggett County, Utah, United States, about 4 miles northeast of the Flaming Gorge Dam on U.S. Route 191. The town was platted and constructed beginning in 1957 by the United States Bureau of Reclamation to house workers working on the construction of Flaming Gorge Dam. After the Dam's completion in 1964, the town became home to a smaller number of dam maintenance and operations personnel, as well as employees of the United States Forest Service. The Dutch John townsite and its buildings continued to be owned by the Bureau of Reclamation until 1998, when the town was privatized. Buildings were sold to individual landowners, and undeveloped land in the town was transferred to Daggett County. The county later completed a master plan for the Dutch John townsite, and has begun offering parcels of land for sale to developers. During the peak years of construction activity at Flaming Gorge Dam, as many as 3,500 people lived in Dutch John.