civil action

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun law : In the United States, a lawsuit between private parties, including an action by a private person against a government entity, which will be treated as a private party by the court
• noun Roman Dutch Law: a lawsuit which is not criminal in nature. It may be between the state and a private party. It is usually based in contract, or delict (tort).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun legal action to protect a private civil right or to compel a civil remedy (as distinguished from criminal prosecution)