Subject: Criminal Procedure

Lecturer: Prof. Seng Rithy

Assignment topic: Comparison between criminal law and criminal procedure
Group 2: Ek Apsara, Lam Kevin, Vin Sokvy

Among many areas of laws, criminal law remains one of the most fundamental law of the
country. Criminal law operates hand and hand with criminal procedural law. Although these two
laws fall into the same category, each one of them serves a different purpose. The following
paragraphs compare criminal law and criminal procedural law.
Criminal law is a body of law that pertains to criminal acts. The issues discussed in
criminal law are any conduct that threaten, harm, or endanger property, health, safety and moral
welfare of people. This law defines criminal offenses, elements of offence, degree of offences,
trial of suspected persons, fixes penalties and modes of treatment applicable to convicted
offenders.1
On the other hand, criminal procedural law is a procedural law that illustrates the process
of how to execute the criminal law. It discusses issues such as specific time limit that regulate
how long a suspect can be held in custody, how long an investigation can last, and the process of
criminal defenses, etc. Some countries have criminal procedural law, some do not. However,
criminal procedural law play a key role in strengthening the implementation of criminal law.
In conclusion, although the two laws are in the same category, but they have distinct
function that correlate with each other. Criminal law defines and categorize crimes and penalties,
whereas criminal procedural law defines how to execute the criminal law such as how to
prosecute the offenders.

1
Hans-Heinrich J. and Jerry N. (Feb 27, 2020). Criminal law. Britannica. Retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com/topic/criminal-law