Procedural law

From Free net encyclopedia

Template:Mergeto Procedural law comprises the rules by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil or criminal proceedings. The rules are designed to ensure a fair and consistent application of due process (in the U.S.) or fundamental justice (in other common law countries) to all cases that come before a court.

Lawyers distinguish procedural law from substantive law, which refers to the actual claims and defenses whose validity is tested through the procedures of procedural law.

See also

• Legal technicality
• Civil procedure
• Criminal procedure

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