_Compensation of the Judges._--The pay of the judges, like their terms of service, varies widely among the different states. The salary paid the judges of the highest court is not much more or less than the governor's salary. The highest salary paid in any state to the judges of the highest court is $13,700 per year, in the state of New York,[17] a salary about as large as that of the justices of the United States Supreme Court. In Illinois and a few other states, the justices of the supreme court receive $10,000 a year. Many states pay less than $5,000 a year. This scale of salaries is very low as compared with those in England, where the highest judges receive $25,000, and the lowest, the county judges, $7,500 a year. A few states have provided a system of pensions for their higher judges who have served a certain number of years or who have reached a certain age, after which they are allowed or compelled to retire, but this provision has not yet become general. [17] Trial court judges in certain districts receive $17,500 a year. =Trial of Civil Cases.=--The cases brought before the courts for trial are of two general classes: (1) civil actions and (2) criminal actions. A civil action is a suit brought for the enforcement of a private right or to secure compensation for damages on account of injuries sustained through the violation of one's rights. Thus a creditor sues a debtor for refusing to pay a debt; an owner sues to recover property which has been wrongfully taken from him; a householder brings an action against his neighbor for trespassing upon his premises; and so on. The person who brings the action is called the _plaintiff_; the one against whom it is brought, the _defendant_; and the two together are known as the _parties_ to the action.