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It changes who makes the decision, which can be really important. Consider, for example, an abused spouse who ends up in the hospital but doesn’t want to press charges. The prosecutor may consider this when making the decision to prosecute, but it’s ultimately not up to the victim.

Also, prosecutors tend not to take on cases they aren't pretty sure about.

The standard in a criminal trial is much higher ("beyond a reasonable doubt") than in a civil trial ("preponderance of the evidence").

Basically, in a civil lawsuit, if it goes to the jury they only need to be 50.0000000001% convinced. In a criminal trial it's more like 95%.

Private citizens cannot initiate a criminal proceeding.

They can SUE, but that's civil, not criminal.

It means that all criminal prosecution is political, or at least, politically-influenced.