In plain words

A civil case is a dispute about private rights: money owed, land, a contract, an office, a trust. The person who goes to court is the plaintiff; the person sued is the defendant. The case is a suit, and it starts with a written plaint.

At the end the court gives its reasons (the judgment) and records the result formally (the decree). If the loser does not obey, the winner executes the decree. The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 governs every step.

A civil right in dispute+A court with jurisdiction+The procedure of the Code=A decree that can be enforced

Read the stages in number order. Each box names the module that teaches that stage.

This module covers the two ends of that road: the words the Code defines (above all, 'decree') and the gateway question, whether a civil court can hear the case at all (section 9).