Law, Civil and Criminal: All laws can be grouped into two categories, namely, Civil Laws and Criminal Laws. Broadly speaking, Criminal law is concerned with wrongs against the community as a whole, while Civil law is related to the rights, duties and obligations of individual members of the community between themselves.

Civil Law may be grouped under six or seven major headings such as family law, the law of property, the law of tort, the law of contract, the law relating to commerce and business, labour law, law of taxation etc.

Ignorance of law is never taken as an excuse. Certain situations where guilty intention could not been entertained such as infancy, insanity mistake of fact etc., they are recognized as defences to criminal responsibility. Offences are classified on the basis of the objective or otherwise. Thus there are crimes against the human body, property, reputation of the individual, against the State of against the public rights. On a procedural basis they are classified as cognizable and non-cognizable (cognizable are those in which the police can investigate or arrest persons without judicial warrant), bailable and non-bailable, compoundable or otherwise.