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The codification of legal concepts is almost as old as civilization itself. Distinctions between civil and criminal law can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia, where the Code of Ur-Nammu (~2100 b.c.) and Code of Hammurabi (~1800 b.c.) addressed issues as disparate as capital punishment (e.g., “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”), theft, fair wages, and divorce. In the United States today, the law is broadly divided into two categories. Whereas the civil code aims to settle disagreements between private parties (e.g., disputed business deals, financial compensation for personal injury), the criminal code serves to hold people accountable for actions deemed unlawful through a system of punishment. The juvenile justice system is built on a foundation of rehabilitation for minors who break the law. Several levels of court systems (e.g., superior courts, appellate courts, state supreme courts) make up the U.S. legal system at the federal and state level. The application of the law, standards of evidence, and potential damages and punishments vary depending on jurisdiction (e.g., federal vs. state) and whether a case involves civil or criminal matters.
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