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What is the difference between procedural and substantive law in criminal law?

Whitney S. Boan Protecting Your Right

Video Transcript

The difference between procedural and substantive law in Florida is that procedural law governs how the courts handle a case. It governs the timelines, it governs the rules about how people will act in court in terms of your lawyer, or the prosecutor, the judge. It governs what rights you have to have hearings and have them happen within a certain time frame. Substantive criminal law on the other hand means that, it’s describing the crime that you are accused of in terms of what constitutes the actual crime and what the punishment may or may not be. The distinction is that one kind of governs how your case is going to be handled. Substantive handles on the other hand, what your case actually is and what the government would have to prove to have you be convicted of that charge.