Criminal Law Research Paper

Introduction
Criminal law is referred to as that branch of law concerned with crimes committed against the public authority. It is very different from civil law. An example is murder. It is very easy to put murder under civil law because it is a crime committed against another human being but the crime of murder is against the public interests. An example of civil crime is when a person does not honor a contract.
Criminal law can be substantial or procedural. Substantial criminal law is concerned with various crimes covered with the criminal code but procedural criminal law deals with the prosecution of the crimes mentioned under substantial criminal law. The sentencing recommendations are also stipulated for various criminal crimes
Different cases need different aspects of the case to be proven. The side filing a lawsuit and the defense analyze the case in more or less the same way. One of the considerations made is each and every one of the elements that are critical to prove a case or a claim is determined as well as the elements needed to prove the defense to a claim or a case against someone.
All the facts that are crucial in order to settle firmly in a position are determined for each essential part of a defense or a claim before the beginning of each court session. This is done to increase the chances of winning the case. The counsel is supposed to convince the court that a fact they bring forth is true beyond any shadow of doubt and it is upon this that the court makes a decision. Lastly, the evidence that is essential in proving each and every fact associated with a claim or defense has to be determined before the case moves to a court of law. After the various determinations have been made then the counsel is in a position to know the kind of evidence they should gather. There exists four basic categories that criminal law provides; Demonstrative,
Experimental, and Scientific Evidence, Documentary Evidence, Testimonial Evidence and
Any such evidence has to pass the authentication test.
Experimental evidence is the kind of evidence that is gotten s a result of experiments performed on objects got on a criminal scene so as to deduce the background of the criminal or to gather information on the characteristics of the criminal that could be capitalized on in the court of law. Scientific evidence is close to experimental evidence. There is the use of chemical tests and other tests in a bid to prove the presence of a particular person or thing or substance at the criminal scene and even be able to come up with time estimates. Examples of such tests include the DNA tests that are performed in criminal cases where the body tissues were involved.
Documentary Evidence
Documentary evidence includes the evidence that is found in or on documents. An example is a contract when there is a need to prove the terms upon which the contract was signed or agreed to. Such evidence falls in the documentary evidence and the real evidence categories.
When documentary evidence is taken into evidence then it has to be authenticated just like any other real evidence. There needs to be a witness who could identify the document or