What is the difference between substantive law and procedural law?

The legal system of any nation around the world essentially comprises of two major categories of law i.e., substantive and procedural law. These two categories of law are distinct from each other and carry different implications on the legal system of a country. While substantive law essentially fixes duties, establishes rights and responsibilities of the persons in a legal system, the procedural law on the other hand merely stipulates the manner in which the said rights and duties have to be protected and enforced in a court of law.
 

What is Substantive Law?

In common parlance, the substantive law refers to the law which prescribes, governs and stipulates the rights and obligations of the subjects of a legal system i.e., what the persons being governed by the law are permitted to do and/or abstained from doing.

The substantive law thus essentially governs the rights available to a person and the obligations the law places upon such person. Substantive laws are purely legal and are always enshrined under a statute or piece of legislation, giving it the status of statutory law. It governs the legal relationship of a state with its subjects. The substantive laws thus carry the power to decide the fate of any case in a court of law by laying down the rights and obligations of people it seeks to govern. The substantive law thus has an independent existence and can only be regulated by an act of the parliament by forming a legislation. For example the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Contract Act, etc. are substantive laws. 
 

What is Procedural Law?

As opposed to substantive law, procedural law operates in a completely separate domain and as the name suggests, lays down the procedure to enforce and execute the substantive law. The procedural law provides for the intricate rules of procedure which the courts of a nation must follow in criminal/civil and/or administrative proceedings. The primary purpose of putting procedural laws in place is to ensure that the proceedings before a court are fair and apply in the same manner to all cases, thus providing the assurance of equal treatment.

The procedural law in India can be seen in the form of the Code of Civil Procedure and the Code of Criminal Procedure which lay down the procedural law of civil and criminal proceedings respectively before the courts in India.
 

Difference between Substantive Law and Procedural Law

The substantive and procedural law function in very distinct fields, where the substantive law operates entirely independent of the procedural law. It can easily be seen that the substantive law primarily governs the outcome of a case before a court of law by stipulating the rights and obligations, while the procedural law simply facilitates the enforcement of the substantive law. Thus, unlike substantive law, the procedural law has no independent existence separate from the substantive law of a nation. However, the procedural law may also have applications beyond the legal context, while the same cannot be said about substantive law.

The substantive law directly governs the rights and duties of individuals, whereas the procedural law has no implication on the rights of any person and simply governs the stages of the proceedings in a court of law. Further, another important distinction between the two comes from the manner in which each of the laws are regulated and set in place by the government. Substantive law can only be regulated by way of statutory laws passed by the legislature, whereas the procedural laws are regulated by the acts of parliament or even government implementation. Substantive laws carry an independent power to decide the outcome and fate of each case, whereas the procedural laws do not have the such independent powers and merely facilitate the process to arrive at the outcome of cases.