We explain what procedural law is and its two branches: civil and criminal. Sources of procedural law, importance and examples.
What is procedural law?
Procedural law is a branch of public law that contemplates the set of norms, codes and forms of the judicial process that is, it orders and regulates the requirements, effects and methods in which the State administers justice.
Procedural law contemplates the mechanisms, modes and procedures stipulated by law to correctly and formally resolve disputes raised by the parties in dispute through a method and a decision that adhere to the affirmed and proven facts and what is contemplated by the applicable law.
In this way, procedural law is divided into two branches: civil and criminal.
- Civil procedural law. It has to do with disputes that occur within the framework of society and that require the fair decision of the State to be resolved, without involving punishable violations of the law.
- Criminal procedural law. Instead, it has to do with the administration of justice when laws have been broken and a judicial action is necessary to impose punishment and/or carry out reparation.
Procedural law is, finally, unique, instrumental and autonomous, and is part of public law because it contemplates the interests of the community, and not only those of individuals.
See also: Criminal law
Sources of procedural law
Procedural law generally has as its sources comparisons between two or more models of administration of justice (comparative law). In this sense, the sources can be of three types:
- Formal sources. When it comes to norms accepted by the positive law in question.
- Historical sources. When it comes to repealed norms that constitute the legal past of a nation.
- Material sources. When it comes to jurisprudence written in explicit treaties such as the Constitution and the Laws and Procedural Codes.
Importance of procedural law
The procedural law It is fundamental in the search for justice and peace by the companies. Its doctrine is precisely responsible for guaranteeing fairness, objectivity, and the conformity of justice procedures with the general framework of the law, and this is key for the existence of solid institutions in the State.
A robust State, in which all its citizens believe, is the basis for a more just and more peaceful society, in which there is no need to distrust those who exercise justice, there are no errors in the process of dispensing it, and people can trust in the system.
Examples of procedural law
Examples of the application of procedural law are the order of the day. When we watch a television series about police and criminals we note that whenever justice is dispensed there are a series of protocols, formal procedures and events that occur in a similar way and independent of the type of crime committed or its culprits. Procedural law refers to these types of procedures.
Another possibility of verifying this occurs when we witness the dynamics of a public trial as witnesses and we can appreciate the figures contemplated in the country's procedural law, such as judges, courts, defense lawyers, prosecuting prosecutors, etc.
