Source: http://library.kiwix.org/wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2018-09/A/Civil_procedure.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 22:11:16+00:00

Document:
In jurisdictions based on English common-law systems, the party bringing a criminal charge (in most cases, the state) is called the "prosecution", but the party bringing most forms of civil action is the "plaintiff" or "claimant". In both kinds of action the other party is known as the "defendant". A criminal case against a person called Ms. Sanchez would be described as “The People v. (= "versus", "against" or "and") Sanchez,” "The State (or Commonwealth) v. Sanchez" or "[The name of the State] v. Sanchez" in the United States and “R. (Regina, that is, the Queen) v. Sanchez” in England and Wales. But a civil action between Ms. Sanchez and a Mr. Smith would be “Sanchez v. Smith” if it were started by Sanchez, and “Smith v. Sanchez” if it were started by Mr. Smith (though the order of parties' names can change if the case is appealed).
1 2 3 4 Richard Powell (1993). Law today. Harlow: Longman. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-582-05635-0. OCLC 30075861.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.