The basic procedural and substantive laws are designed to ensure that there is a balance between punishing the accused persons and giving them a right to be heard. The numerous rules are formulated in such a way that they allow deterrence and the rules of natural justice to underscore the relevance and the meaning of criminal law in a given society. The role of criminal law is understood and clearly achieved by the existence of the rules of substantive law. The essence of the substantive rules is that they spell out the ingredients of a given offence. Further, the required standards that the prosecution should meet for the accused to be held liable are stipulated. The rules emphasize the burden of proof, as well as the viable defences.
If the rules do not allow the purpose and the influence of criminal law to achieve the desired influences, then there are various methods to change the law to ensure that the desired results are achieved. There are various rules that are part of the broad criminal law, which ensure that the essential changes are implemented. International criminal law is part of the basis that suggests a change in criminal law. International criminal law will require the signatories of a given law to domestic it. The domestication of the law may require selective changes or overhauling of the entire criminal law system.
The change can also be achieved by considering the regional laws on the same issue. The regional treaties play an increasingly important role in ensuring that the member countries implement the criminal law provisions in a given case. The change in the law could be affected by the rise in crimes in society. The changes in society form the basis for the change in the law. For instance, a change may be called upon if a new crime is frequently committed in society, but the existing laws are not good enough to bring the situation under the provisions of the law. The rise in crimes forms the reason for changes in criminal law. The legislature may decide to change the law to diversify the range of offences or create new offences.