Civil procedure consists of the rules by which courts conduct civil trials. "Civil trials" concern the judicial resolution of claims by one individual or group against another and are to be distinguished from "criminal trials," in which the state prosecutes an individual for violation of criminal law.

"Procedure" is to be distinguished from "substantive law" in that substantive law defines the rights and duties of everyday conduct, such as in contract law or tort law.

A procedural system provides the mechanism for applying substantive law to real disputes. Such a system sets guidelines as to what information the judge or jury receives, how that information is to be presented, and by what standards of proof (e.g., "beyond a reasonable doubt," "by clear and convincing evidence," "by a preponderance of the evidence") the information will be adjudged. An effective procedural system ensures that similar cases will be treated similarly by the courts.

Civil law is a unique type of law inspired by Roman law. Civil laws are based on the historic customs that are stuck in codified and writing not determined as in the case of common law. "Civil laws are primary based on law system of Roman that usually provide a set of written and accessible collection of the laws which are applied to all citizens even to all legal professionals including lawyers, attorneys and judges must also follow the same. Legal code is the primary source of civil law which is arranged in a some pre specified order according to subject matters."

Civil law is one of the oldest and prevalent surviving legal systems in the world. There are various law colleges and schools in India that offers civil law education at different level.