Concept of Wrong
Wrong – A violation of the legal rights of another (Black’s Legal Dictionary) •
The idea of rights naturally suggests the correlative one of wrongs; for every right is capable of being violated. • Eg: A right to live in personal security, a wrong on the part of him who commits personal violence.
Generally , the law is intended for the establishment and maintenance of rights, in fact it deals both with rights and wrongs. • It first fixes the character and definition of rights, and then, with a view to their effectual security, proceeds to define wrongs, and to devise the means by which the latter shall be prevented or redressed
Civil Wrongs
A civil wrong is a private wrong, and the injured party’s remedy is to sue the party who caused the wrong/injury for general damages (money). The plaintiff (the injured party) sues or brings a civil suit (files an action in court) against the defendant (the party that caused the harm). Plaintiffs can be individuals, businesses, classes of individuals (in a class action suit), or government entities. Defendants in civil actions can also be individuals, businesses, multinational corporations, governments, or state agencies.
Civil law covers many types of civil actions or suits including: torts (personal injury claims), contracts, property or real estate disputes, family law (including divorces, adoptions, and child custody matters), intellectual property claims (including copyright, trademark, and patent claims), and trusts and estate laws (which covers wills and probate).
The primary purpose of a civil suit is to financially compensate the injured party. The plaintiff brings the suit in his or her own name, for example, Tinku Kumar versus Rinku Kumar. The amount of damages is theoretically related to the amount of harm done by the defendant to the plaintiff. Sometimes, when the judges finds there is particularly egregious harm, it will decide to punish the defendant by awarding a monetary award called punitive damages in addition to general damages
Plaintiffs may also bring civil suits called injunctive relief to stop or “enjoin” the defendant from continuing to act in a certain manner. Codes of the civil procedure set forth the rules to follow when suing the party who allegedly caused some type of private harm. These codes govern all the various types of civil actions.
In a civil trial, the plaintiff has the burden of producing evidence that the defendant caused the injury and the harm. To meet this burden, the plaintiff will call witnesses to testify and introduce physical evidence. In a civil case, the plaintiff must convince or persuade the judge that it is more likely than not that the defendant caused the harm. This level of certainty or persuasion is known as preponderance of the evidence. Another feature in a civil suit is that the defendant can cross-sue the plaintiff, claiming that the plaintiff is actually responsible for the harm.
Criminal Wrongs
Criminal wrongs differ from civil or moral wrongs. Criminal wrongs are behaviors that harm society as a whole rather than one individual or entity specifically. When people violate the criminal law there are generally sanctions that include incarceration and fines. A crime is an act, or a failure to act, that violates society’s rules. The government, on behalf of society, is the plaintiff. A criminal wrong can be committed in many ways by individuals, groups, or businesses against individuals, businesses, governments or with no particular victim.
Crime: an action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law • An act committed in violation of law where the consequence of conviction by a court is punishment • An action that is deemed injurious to the public welf are and is legally prohibited • It is duty of the State to protect its citizens & others from crimes ( State is the custodian of law & order in the society- in Welfare State) • Crime – used interchangeably with offence
Criminal laws reflect a society’s moral and ethical beliefs. They govern how society, through its government agents, holds criminal wrongdoers accountable for their actions. Sanctions or remedies such as incarceration, fines, restitution, community service, and restorative justice program are used to express societal condemnation of the criminal’s behavior. Government Advocates prosecute, or file charges against, criminal defendants on behalf of society, not necessarily to remedy the harm suffered by any particular victim. The title of a criminal prosecution reflects this: “State of Bihar v. S.Kumar,”, “Union of India v. T.kumar,”,
In a criminal trial he prosecutor carries the burden of producing evidence that will convince the Court or judge beyond any reasonable doubt that the criminal defendant committed a violation of law that harmed society. To meet this burden, the prosecutor will call upon witnesses to testify and may also present physical evidence suggesting the defendant committed the crime. Just as a private individual may decide that it is not worth the time or effort to file a legal action, the state may decide not to use its resources to file criminal charges against a wrongdoer. A victim (a named injured party) cannot force the state to prosecute the wrongdoing. Rather, if there is an appropriate civil cause of action–for example, wrongful death–the injured party will need to file a civil suit as a plaintiff and seek monetary damages against the defendant.
Moral Wrongs
Moral wrongs differ from criminal wrongs. “Moral law attempts to perfect personal character, whereas criminal law, in general, is aimed at misbehavior that falls substantially below the norms of the community.” There are no codes or statutes governing violations of moral laws in the India.
In India, the sense of right and wrong is a more fundamental discourse than anything else. We can ignore information, we can ignore observation we can even ignore objectivity. But we mostly succumb to the social code of morality and try to justify every action from that point of view. The concept of morality always has an undertone of either religion or politics. Indian society is fundamentally governed by an overdose of religion and politics and, hence, morality is always the default force.
“The Witness” Exercise
Watch the 2015 Netflix documentary “The Witness” in which Bill Genovese re-examined what was said, heard and reported about his sister, Kitty Genovese. This frequently cited examples of a moral wrong involve the story of thirty-seven neighbors who purportedly did nothing when “Kitty” Genovese was stabbed to death outside their apartment building in New York City in 1964. There are many discrepancies about this story and what the neighbors knew, or didn’t know, and what they did, or didn’t do, but the general belief is that they had at least a moral obligation to do something (for example, call the police), and by failing to do anything, they committed a moral wrong. Ultimately, none of the neighbors had any legal obligation to report the crime or intervene to help Ms. Genovese.
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