What Is The Difference Between Criminal Law & Procedure?
What Is The Difference Between Criminal Law & Procedure?
If you’re a newer law student who has yet to take both criminal law and criminal procedure, you’re not alone. Generally, criminal law is a mandatory 1L class, whereas students take criminal procedure during their 2L or 3L year, and some students don’t take it at all if not required by the law school. Despite both including the word “criminal” the two classes are actually very different. One of the most common questions students ask us is to explain the difference between the two. Let’s take a closer look at criminal law, criminal procedure, and the differences between the two.
What Is The Difference Between Criminal Law & Procedure?
Criminal Law
A law school criminal law class focuses on teaching students the basic elements of various crimes. In addition, students learn the basic elements of criminal liability by reading case law and through class discussions. Most law schools base their criminal law classes on what is known as the Model Penal Code. The Model Penal Code can best be thought of as a guide for which states can base their criminal laws. While every state has its own criminal laws, some are more heavily influenced than others by the Model Penal Code. Criminal law classes cover murder, manslaughter, assault, battery, robbery, etc. You name a crime, and it will probably be included in your 1L criminal law class. Additionally, criminal law classes discuss the required mental state to carry out each offense.
Criminal Procedure
Criminal procedure, on the other hand, doesn’t focus so much on the actual crime committed. Instead, criminal procedure focuses on the law governing how people who are accused of crimes are processed through the justice system. For example, “how do you define first-degree murder?” is a criminal law question. “Did the officer have probable cause to search the car?” is a criminal procedure question. The government must abide by certain limitations when enforcing the law, which is the focus of a criminal procedure class. So, if it has to do with a person’s right to counsel, a confession, right to plead the fifth amendment – it’s all covered in your criminal procedure class.
How The Two Courses Intertwine
Criminal law and criminal procedure work hand in hand and one cannot exist without the other. For example, without a state defining what constitutes a crime, there can be no process under which a person is subject. How can we get someone to confess to murder when nobody knows what the legal definition of murder is? Similarly, we can’t just accuse someone of a crime and throw them in jail without proper processes in place. For those interested in a career in criminal prosecution or defense, most law schools also offer advanced versions of the two courses.
Criminal law and criminal procedure are also both tested on the bar exam!
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