Civil proceedings regulate the legal relationships between two (or more) legally equal private persons. Unlike in criminal proceedings, where the state acts as prosecutor, in civil proceedings the conduct of the proceedings is essentially the responsibility of the parties themselves—for example, they decide when or whether to file a lawsuit at all and in what form the proceedings are concluded. Although in certain cases civil claims can also be decided in the course of criminal proceedings (see private party), civil claims must generally be asserted in contentious proceedings.
