private law

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The branch of law that deals with the legal rights and relationships of private individuals.

Wiktionary

1. n. law A category of law governing the relationship among persons (citizens or legal persons including corporations), as opposed to relations between the state and persons. Major subdivisions of private law include (depending on whether the jurisdiction belongs to the civil law, common law, or other legal tradition) torts and contracts or the law of obligations as well as property law, family law, commercial law, and the law of succession (probate and estates). It encompasses most areas of law considered civil law (i.e., non-criminal law), such as those governed by a civil code (in a civil-law or continental-traditional legal system).