Controversy

==Legal==
In the [[jurisprudence|theory of law]], a controversy differs from a [[legal case]]; while legal cases include all suits, [[Criminal law|criminal]] as well as [[civil law (common law)|civil]], a controversy is a purely civil proceeding.

For example, the [[Case or Controversy Clause]] of [[Article Three of the United States Constitution]] ([[Article Three of the United States Constitution#Section 2: Judicial power, jurisdiction, and trial by jury|Section 2]], Clause 1) states that "the judicial Power shall extend&nbsp;...&nbsp;to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party". This clause has been deemed to impose a requirement that United States federal courts are not permitted to cases that do not pose an actual controversy&mdash;that is, an actual dispute between adverse parties which is capable of being resolved by the [court]. In addition to setting out the scope of the jurisdiction of the federal judiciary, it also prohibits courts from issuing [[advisory opinion]]s, or from hearing cases that are either [[ripeness|unripe]], meaning that the controversy has not arisen yet, or [[mootness|moot]], meaning that the controversy has already been  resolved.