Module 9
Civil Systems and How They Interact with the Criminal Case

Introduction

While engaged with the criminal justice process, victims may also be navigating other proceedings related to their victimization. This module will explore the following civil proceedings relevant to victims and how these systems interact with criminal proceedings:

  • Civil Action
  • Protection Orders
  • Divorce Proceedings and Custody Orders
  • Parental Rights

These civil systems can have an impact on, and be impacted by, the criminal justice proceeding. It is important for advocates to understand which civil proceedings may be beneficial to victims and how victims’ participation in those proceedings may impact the outcome of the criminal matters.1

Disclaimers and Footnotes

1. Administrative processes, such as employment investigations into sexual assault or campus investigative and disciplinary proceedings, can also have an impact on simultaneous or consecutive criminal justice proceedings. Module 12 discusses campus investigatory and disciplinary processes and how they interact with the criminal justice system.

This module will be available to you as soon as you complete Module 1. To complete a module, you must read each of the lessons and complete the review quiz at the end.

It is important to finish Module 1 so that you have sufficient context for the rest of the program. After that, you'll have full access to jump between lessons however works best for you.

Tip: In the left sidebar, you'll notice a vertical bar of squares. Each square represents a lesson in that module. You can see at a glance which lessons you've done (brightly colored) and which ones you have not (gray).

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