Canadian Law I Unit 1 Legal Principles

Unit 1: Legal Principles 1.1 Role of Law What is Law and Why is it Necessary? ● Laws are a system of rules created and enforced by the government. ● These laws govern the social, economic, and political aspect of people’s lives, from birth to death. ● Laws can vary in different countries, and even in different areas within a country. ● Laws serve a purpose in society: ○ To preserve order and peace ○ Establish standards ○ Safeguard the rights and liberties of every citizen ○ Resolve disputes between government, businesses, and people ● The Rule of Law: ○ Citizens must recognize and accept the law. ○ The law applies equally to everyone, regardless of station or other differences. ○ No one has the right to take away one’s rights, except in accordance with the law. ● Some laws are practical and some are moral: e.g. property law is an example of practical law because it governs who is entitled to what and what they can do with what they own. On the other hand, statuary rape laws are moral becuase majority of society believes it is wrong, but not everyone. ● Ultimate goal of law: ensure justice for all, which means equality does not apply in all situations. ● The law will “treat like cases alike, and different cases differently,” so there is justice but not always equality. 1.2 Historical Influences on Canadian Law Ancient Europe ● Oldest unwritten laws came from Ancient Europe ● Their first law system was known as wergild ○ Wergild: a human value system originating in Ancient Europe. The system placed a value (either a dollar amount, or the person's value in food, livelihood, etc.) and if the person was murdered, the debt must be paid for their life. British Influences ● From the time period 1066-1500, the British came up with their own law system in order to keep civilians in check and punish those who did wrong. Their three forms of trial in deciding who was innocent or guilty were; ○ Trial by ordeal: the accused must go through significant torture to determine if they were guilty or innocent. The accused was put through a massive ordeal such as burning with a hot iron, drowning, or starvation. If they survived the ordeal, they were considered innocent because it was believed that God would only save an innocent person. ○ Trial by oath: friends of the accused must swear an oath of innocence on the Bible. This system of trial led to modern day witnesses in court, who swear an oath to tell the truth about the events they witnessed. ○ Trial by combat: two parties who were accusing each other of wrongdoing would battle it out to determine who was telling the truth. Back then, the two parties would duel with swords and weapons. This concept is what created today’s adversarial system, where lawyers of two opposing parties present evidence and “battle it out” in the courtroom. ● Canada’s use of the common law system also comes from Britain. This was a British system established by King Henry II, and adopted by Canada. British Influences: Rule of Precedent ● King Henry II could not govern all of Britain himself, so he appointed justiciars. ● Justiciars: justice-seekers, where the word judge comes from. ● His justiciars would travel across Britain, solving disputes and jailing criminals. Because they did not want to apply different laws in different areas and they wanted the process to be fair, the justiciars agreed to decide similar cases with similar punishments. ● Stare decisis: a Latin term from this time period meaning to stand by one’s decision. ● This is where the rule of precedent comes from. ○ Rule of precedent: The process of applying stare decisis in deciding the punishments of criminals. ○ Rule of precedent was necessary so that people who committed the same crimes would get the same punishment, and there was no injustice. ○ Justiciars would record what happened in each case to refer back to them later when deciding a similar case. ○ This practice is what ended up becoming common law. ○ Common law: law that is common to all. Magna Carta ● The Magna Carta is a charter of rights (civil and political) signed in 1215. ● The Magna Carta was drafted by nobles who wanted to reduce the amount of power of the current tyrannical monarch, King John. ● The document was one of the first to properly establish rights and liberties to people, even though it only applied to the elite in England. ● The main takeaways from the Magna Carta are: ○ Rule of Law: law must be applied equally ○ Habeas corpus: means “you must have the body.” This means the accused must have the right to be present in court to defend themselves. This rule was the first of its kind and allowed the accused to have a chance to speak their truth. ○ The right to be tried within a reasonable amount of time: the Magna Carta outlined a very important part of law; for the accused to have a day in court within at least a year, or the case is no longer valid (for minor crimes). Religious Influences ● The foundations of the Canadian law system come from Britain. In Britain, old laws were based on religion; particularly Christianity and the Bible. ● The Ten Commandments forbade acts like murder, theft, and adultery, which were made illegal in the British system. ● Canada adopted this a long time ago, and some of those laws are still existing today, even though now they are less about religion and more about what is morally right and wrong. 1.3 Categories of Law ● There are three main types of law under Canadian law: international law and domestic law. ○ Domestic law: the laws made in and enforced within Canada’s border, also known as legislature. Every other type of law comes under this heading. ○ International law: the law that governs the transactions and actions between independent nations (e.g treaties, agreements, borders, etc.). There is no one law making authority for the world as a whole so international laws are created using customs between nations. ■ Signed agreements between nations are considered as powerful and binding as laws. ● Under domestic law is substantive and procedural law: ○ Substantive law: law that defines the rights and responsibilities of citizens. ○ Procedural law: the law that defines how the law should be enforced legally (e.g lawful arrest). ● Under substantive law is public and private law: ○ Public law: governs the relationship between the government and the citizens of the country. The types of law under public law are: ■ Constitutional law: regulates the relationship between a person and the government, as well as the legality of government policies. ■ Administrative law: governs the behaviour of administrative agencies belonging to the government. ■ Criminal law: law that dictates the punishment of individuals who commit crimes. ○ Private law/civil law: the area of law that governs the relationship between individual and individual, and individual and businesses. ■ Tort law: one party takes action against a party that has harmed them. ■ Contract law: governs contracts and contract agreements. ■ Wills and estates law: law governing wills, assets, trusts, and inheritance. ■ Family law: law governing domestic relations. ■ Property law: regulates ownership (land, intellectual property, etc.) ■ Employment law: regulates the relationship between employers and employees. 1.4 Structure of the Canadian Court System ● The Canadian court system is made of multiple different branches of courts. ● Different levels of courts have different roles and deal with different cases. ● There are 11 main courts in Canada... Federal Courts ● Supreme Court of Canada ○ The final appeal court. ○ Nine judges are appointed from major regions in the country. ○ Hears cases from all provinces in Canada. ○ Canadian government can refer to the Supreme Court for its opinion on legal issues. ● Federal Court ○ Intellectual property ○ Maritime law ○ Resolves disputes and cases between provinces and the government ○ Deals with major terrorism cases ● Tax Court of Canada ○ Deals with cases appealed from tax assessments ○ Tax evasion in major companies, businesses, etc. ● Federal Court of Appeal ○ This court hears and reviews the decisions made in the Federal Court and the Tax Court. ○ For most cases in Canada, this is the highest level of court their case will reach. Provincial and Territorial Courts ● Provincial and territorial courts have three levels; lower courts, superior courts, and courts of appeal. ● These courts hear a whole spectrum of cases, including criminal, financial, and domestic cases and apply the law using common law (law common across Canada). ● Provincial and territorial courts can also be divided into more specific types of courts which deal with specific cases (e.g youth, small claims, and divorce/domestic courts). ● Superior Provincial Courts: ○ This is the highest provincial court in the province or territory. ○ They deal with the most serious of criminal and civil law cases. ○ These courts have the power to review and reverse the decisions made by lower provincial and territorial courts. Administrative and Tribunal Courts ● Deal with disputes that do not necessarily need to be resolved in court. ● They resolve disputes over interpretation of the law, regulations, employee benefits, and human rights. ● Decisions made in these courts are reviewed by higher level courts. Martial Appeal and Military Courts ● Formal courts that specifically deal with cases relating to the military. ● National security, army, and serious crimes committed by military professionals. 1.5 Why Laws Change Religion ● Canadian laws are secular, meaning they do not have a religious basis, but some laws that have been created in the past have been influenced by religion. ● Some of these laws conflict with the religions of Canadian citizens, and therefore must be altered to be more inclusive. ○ Example: Motorcycle driving laws in Ontario used to make it mandatory for everyone to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle. Sikh men must wear a turban on their heads so a helmet would not be possible. For this reason, the law was altered to make a helmet optional to Sikhs who must wear a turban. Demographics ● There are constant changes to the demographics, like birth and death rate, education, employment, and immigration. Because of these changes, laws must also adapt as well. ○ Example: in the late 1900’s people were moving away from rural areas and moving to more urban areas. More people, especially women, were joining the workforce and the government had to pass new laws to accommodate the new surge in working people. New sanitation, public health, employee rights laws were passed to ensure the workers had a safe and clean place to work. Changes in Social Attitudes ● As time passes, society’s values shift to become more inclusive and forward thinking. ● Issues in society are brought to the government’s attention through protesting and lobby groups making them known. The government can change certain laws to tackle these issues. ○ Example: Gay marriage and abortion were once very illegal and there was considerble punishment for these acts. After long years of protest and cries for change, Canada legalized gay marriage and abortion because society’s values had changed to now accept these acts. Technology ● Changes in the digital world have made it easier for people to commit crimes, and have even introduced new wrongful acts that need to be criminalized. ○ Example: In the early 2000’s, technology was emerging and becoming more and more advanced. Pedophiles were finding ways of contacting children online on messaging sites like MySpace. Globalization ● As time goes on, nations become bigger players in the global market meaning Canada has to adjust their international laws (national defense, treaties, trading, etc.) to accommodate those changes. ○ Example: Canada has laws/agreements with the U.S that allows criminals who committed crimes in Canada to return home to their countries to be tried for their crimes in their own country. National and International Emergencies ● Laws are passed in response to major crises and issues happening around the world. ○ Example: The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in the border closure of Canada, and many people cannot travel from Canada to the United States and other countries.