| Point | Substantive | Procedural |
|---|---|---|
| Function | Defines rights, duties, offences | Enforces them through process |
| Question answered | What is owed? What is punishable? | How is it claimed, tried, executed? |
| Source examples | Criminal Code 2074; Civil Code's contract/family parts | Criminal Procedure Code 2074; Civil Procedure Code 2074; Evidence Act 2031 |
| Effect of change | Alters rights retroactively-prospectively (the non-retroactivity debates) | Generally applies to pending proceedings (the no-vested-right-in-procedure doctrine) |
| Analogy | The play's script | The theatre's stagecraft |
The boundary's hard cases (the classification disputes): limitation (procedural by classification, substantive in effect — a right-destroying procedure); evidence rules' substantive edges (burden- of-proof presumptions); the courts' retroactivity discipline for procedural amendments.