Question One:
Explain the difference between substantive and procedural law.
Substantive law is the statutory or written law that defines rights and duties of people as they act in society and it deals with the legal relationship between people. Substantive law is an independent set of laws that decide the fate of the case and cannot be applicable in non-legal contexts. So substantive law underlines the essential substance of a trial.
Procedural law provides the machinery to enforce the substantive laws on the government bodies. It comprises the rules by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil or criminal proceedings. It deals with the method by which substantive law is made and administered. Procedural law has no independence and can be applicable in non-legal contexts. It only tells how the legal process to be executed by giving a step-by-step action.

Question Two:
During the discovery phase, the parties resort to the use of interrogatories, depositions, admission requests and document production requests. Briefly define these different discovery tools and explain the purpose for each. Explain the purpose of discovery as you understand it.
Interrogatories are a formal set of written questions directed by one litigant and required to be answered by the other party and are used for the purpose of clarifying and narrowing the issues or the facts and help to determine in advance what facts will be presented at trial in the case.
Deposition is the oral testimony of a witness by the lawyers outside the court and is used for the purpose of narrowing the issues, gathering information for the trail and also shortening the trail by making decision on the knowledge in advance.
Admission Request is one party’s written demand that the other party admit or deny certain statements of supposed fact or of the application of law to fact and are made for the purpose of helping narrow the scope of the controversy by getting certain admission or denials of issues relevant to the lawsuit on record before a trail starts.
Document Production Request is a legal request for documents, electronically stored information or other tangible items and are made for the purpose of helping litigants obtain the facts relevant to the case or are likely to lead to other information that may be relevant for the trail.
The purpose of Discovery is to help both parties obtain the facts and information in advance and to narrow and clarity the issues for the trial, which let both sides focus on the specific issues that will be presented throughout the case. It can also minimize any surprise element in litigation and to give each party the opportunity to become fully informed regarding facts know by the opposing party. Through Discovery process, both of the parties can formulate trial strategies on the basis of the knowledge of the case, which gives both sides an equal chance on the court.