CIVIL LAW = A large body of law that affects private citizens directly but does not include criminal law. It includes family law (divorce), tort law (negligence or wrongful act/omission causing death, personal injury, or property damage), probate law (handling the estate of someone who has died), labor law (anything having to do with the workplace), etc.

CASE LAW = Rules or procedures that come about as the result of a court case that requires interpretation of statutory law. For example, the Miranda warning (“You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you in a court of law”) came about as the result of Miranda v. Arizona, where the Supreme Court had to interpret the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and ruled that anyone who is placed under arrest must be advised of their Constitutional rights against self-incrimination. So the right against self-incrimination is statutory, but the Miranda warning is the result of case law.

Does that help?

Statutory is by statute – someone wrote and passed a law. Common law is also known as judge made law – law that comes from court cases. That’s enough to get you started on your paper – which I will not write for you.