What are the two main types of statutes?

• A. Public and Private
• B. Civil and Criminal
• C. Federal and Local
• D. Administrative and Judicial

Answer: (B)

Statutes are laws enacted by a legislature. They are categorized by the consequences they create: civil statutes govern private rights and provide remedies between private parties, such as damages for breach of contract or injunctions. Criminal statutes define offenses against society and prescribe punishments like fines or imprisonment. The other pairings describe different kinds of classifications—public vs private relates to broad legal categories, federal vs local to levels of government, and administrative vs judicial to branches or processes—not the standard way courts categorize statutes. Understanding civil versus criminal helps you see how a law can address private disputes with remedies or punish wrongdoing against the public with penalties.