argument in a civil court is about the amount of money, or damages, which the defendant should pay to the plaintiff. Differences between civil law and common law systems The majority of civil law jurisdictions ('civil law' as a type of law system, not as opposed to criminal law) follow an inquisitorial system of adjudication, in which judges undertake an active investigation of the claims by examining the evidence at the trial (while other judges contribute likewise by preparing reports). In common law systems, the trial judge presides over proceedings grounded in the adversarial system of dispute resolution, where both the prosecution and the defence prepare arguments to be presented before the court. Some civil law systems have adopted adversarial procedures. Proponents of either system tend to consider that their system defends best the rights of the innocent. There is a tendency in common law countries to believe that civil law / inquisitorial systems do not have the so-called "presumption of innocence", and do not provide the defence with adequate rights. Conversely, there is a tendency in countries with an inquisitorial system to believe that accusatorial proceedings unduly favour rich defendants who can afford large legal teams, and therefore disfavour poorer defendants. See also Offence (law) Trial (law) Civil procedure Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 of India Court Appointed Special Advocates Criminal Procedure Act Criminal procedure in the United States Italian Criminal Procedure Code of Criminal Procedure (Japan) Criminal Procedure Code (Malaysia) Criminal Procedure Code (Ukraine) References Further reading