Law

Laws are made from sets of rules, and they inform us all on how to behave. Laws advise us on what is allowed and what is not. Therefore, law may be defined as a system of rules created by the government which seeks to protect members in society and uphold a certain standard of conduct. Police, courts, and the threat of punishment (prison) enforce the law.

What is Law?

Laws are rules made by the government that forbid certain actions and are enforced by the courts. Laws apply to everyone equally. If you break a law, you may have to pay a fine, pay for the damage you have done, or go to jail. The law provides a way to resolve disputes peacefully. Our laws recognize and protect basic individual rights and freedoms, such as liberty and equality.

Why do we need laws?

The main difference between rules and laws is the consequences associated with breaking them. While each is developed to invoke a sense of order, fair play, and safety, the weight of a law is much heavier than the weight of a rule.

Difference between rule and law

Administrative, Constitutional, Criminal, Contract, Tort, Family, Labour, Property, Estate, wills

Areas of Law

A constitution is the supreme law of the land. It outlines the structure of the government and limits the powers of the government.

What is a constitution?

Codified laws, the law as the law so the punishment would be the same no matter the circumstances (accidental, insane or guilty) , introduced retribution

Hammurabi:

Laws given by God: commandments (morally right/ Moral code), introduced restitution

Mosaic

Created democracy: the people have a say, citizenship and juries (used to be hundreds of people)

Greeks

Introduced Lawyer: a profession devoted to legal matters

Romans

Magna Carta/ Rule of law (everyone is equal under the law including the government)

Feudal system ( landholders provide land to tenants in exchange for their loyalty and service.)

Curia regis (Kings court: the king appointed judges who traveled through england and held hearings for controversial or disputed cases)

Common law/case law (should be considered in the making of a decision in any case)

Rule of precedent (requires courts to apply the law in the same manner to cases with the same facts.)

British

Introduced Napoleonic code (civil law in Quebec)

French

Egalitarian (the Principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunity

Sentencing circles: Decisions were made collectively through the process of negotiation agreements everyone could accept

Indigenous

Any person who was held and imprisoned without an explanation was entitled to appear before the courts within a reasonable time

habeas corpus

The decision made by a judge in a certain case is considered by future judges when making decisions on similar cases.

rule of precedent

Rulers and Britain were subject to the law and no ruler could impose restrictions on the people arbitrarily or without a reason

magna carta

Repaying the victim in the form of cash, goods, time Etc

Restitution

Principle that the punishment should fit the crime, to make the offender suffer for wrong doings

Retribution

All people are equal under the law

rule of law

A mutual agreement among judges, reach through discussion on how to punish those who have committed similar cases

common law

As the number of cases increased, common (law unwritten law) needed to be recorded and punished and volumes are report which are stored in libraries

case law

Canadian Bill of Rights was passed on August 10, 1960 provides canadians with certian rights like voting

Bill of Rights - when was it passed?

April 17, 1982: The Charter is a significant document for Canadian because it guarantees rights/freedoms for all Canadian living within Canada

What is the Charter of Rights & Freedoms?

Section #1

Reasonable Limits Clause

Section #2

Fundamental Freedoms

Section 3-5

Democratic Rights

Section 6

Mobility Rights

Section 7-14

Legal Rights

Section 15

Equality Rights

Section 16-22

Language Rights

Section 24

Enforcement

Section 25

Indigenous Rights & Freedoms

Section 27

Multicultural and Heritage Rights

Section 28

Gender Rights

Section 29

Denominational & Separate Schools

Section 33

Notwithstanding Clause

Elderly people are boring

Stereotypes

a judgement or suspicion formed before knowing the facts

Prejudice

Unfair treatment or action based on their equality rights

Discrimination

the idea that some groups are superior to others

Racism

Intentional and Unintentional

Types of Discrimination:

A crime is an action, or the omission of an action, that is prohibited by law. Four conditions must exist when defining a crime:


1. The action must be considered wrong by society
2. The action must cause harm to society or to those in need of protection
3. Harm must be serious in both nature and degree
4. The action must deal with criminal law

What is crime? What is the purpose of criminal law?

Crimes that involve Violence (Arson, Robbery, Assual, etc)

What are violent crimes?

* Criminal Code of Canada

Federal legislation (statute law)

* An offence that is not as serious as an indictable offence.
* Summary offences are usually tried in the lower courts (provincial) and have a less complicated process and lesser sentences or punishment.
* An example of a summary conviction offence would be trespassing.

Summary Conviction offence:

* This is a more serious charge than a summary offence.
* Indictable offences are generally heard by a judge and jury in the higher courts and the sentence tends to be heavier than sentences for a summary conviction offence.
* An example of an indictable offence would be murder

Indictable offence:

* A hybrid offence is an offence that could go either way.
* It could be tried as a summary conviction or as an indictable offence.
* It is up to the crown prosecutor to choose how it will charge the individual.
* Hybrid offences generally fall in between summary convictions and indictable offences in terms of seriousness and in Canada many criminal charges tend to be classified as hybrid offences.
* Examples of a hybrid offence would be impaired driving.

Hybrid offences:

Culpable means Responsible and non-culpable means in-directly

What is the difference between culpable homicide & non-culpable homicide?

(Sexual) Assault
(Sexual) Assault causing bodily harm
(Sexual) Aggravated Assault

What are the 3 levels of assault? What are the 3 levels of sexual assault?

comes from Latin which means “Wrongful Deed” or “Guilty Act”
Action must be voluntary

ACTUS REUS:

comes from Latin which means “Guilty Mind” or “Criminal Mind” - must involve:

* Knowledge– realising that the act committed is immoral (wrong)
* Intent – purpose behind the action, not necessarily the result
* Recklessness – careless disregard for the consequences of your actions. You should have known better.
* Willful blindness - is a deliberate attempt to remain ignorant about the facts which might make someone legally responsible - turning a blind eye.

MENS REA

The person(s) who is primarily responsible for committing a criminal offence

PRINCIPAL ACTOR (Perpetrator)

Aiding means to help someone commit a crime

Abetting means to encourage someone to commit a crime

AIDING or ABETTING:

An accessory after the fact is someone who helps a criminal escape detention or capture

This may include providing food, clothing, or shelter to the offender

ACCESSORY AFTER THE FACT:

* Probation is a sentence or a part of a sentence that you serve in the community


* Parole is a conditional release that you may be granted during your custodial sentence

What is parole? What is probation?

When there is Reasonable and Probable grounds

When can an officer arrest someone without a warrant?

* The purpose of Preliminary hearing is to determine if the Crown has enough evidence to take the case to trial via a court procedure
* The purpose of Arraignment is so that the charge is read to the accused and they can plea however they want (“I plead guilty”)

What is the purpose of preliminary hearing and arraignment?

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Not Criminally Responsible
Necessity

Battered Women’s Syndrome
Automatism

Mistake of Fact
Legal Duty
Intoxication
Mistake of law

Consent
Duress

Provocation
Incapacity of Young
Self-Defense
Entrapment
Alibi

Double Jeopardy

What are the criminal defences that a criminal lawyer could use to defend the actions of their client?

* Empanelling is the process of selecting 12 jury members
* Sequestering is the process of separating the Jury members from the court to make a decision which has to be unanimous
* Hung jury is when the jury cannot reach a final verdict

Jury duty, jury empanelling, sequestering, hung jury, pros & cons of a jury

* A warrant can be used to search a residence only on the dates indicated and from 6:00am and 9:00pm.
* The search can involve only those areas and items outlined in the warrant. (ex. Upstairs only)
* All illegal items can be seized during the search, even items not stated in the warrant.

Search laws - search warrant, search rules

a legal document stating the criminal charge and court date; usually used for summary conviction offences

Appearance Notice

If police have trouble locating a suspect for arrest, they may get a court to issue a summons, which orders someone to appear in criminal court.

Arrest Warrant (Summons)

* The severity of the crime, The crime itself, The jury's verdict, The evidence presented
* Never their own personal views or biases

What are some factors that a judge must take into consideration when determining an appropriate sentence?

* Aggravating circumstances: Circumstances of the crime that increase the responsibility of the offender
* Mitigating circumstance: Circumstances of the crime that lessen the responsibility of the offender

Aggravating and mitigating circumstances and how these can potentially alter a sentence

* It doesn't treat them as normal criminals and tries to support them so that they have a future.
* The identities are not given to the public and no record of them shows.

Youth criminal justice act - how does the YCJA support youth?

At 14 years of age and older, serious violent crimes such as murder, youth can sometimes be treated as an adult.

When can a youth be transferred to adult court?

Outlines personal and private relationships between persons and organisations. Regulates conduct between disputing parties and compensates those who have been wronged

* Private law is another name for civil law.


* A dispute is between an individual (plaintiff) and another individual (defendant)
* usually has to do with money/compensation, ownership of property, or a wrong committed
* to "win" one would just have to prove that there is a 51% chance that what they are saying is true.

What is civil law? (Plaintiff versus Defendant)

Criminal law deals with acts that violate the Criminal Code and other federal statutes. Civil law deals with disputes between private parties.
◆ burden of proof differs

What are the differences between civil law and criminal law? - Burden of proof - balance of probabilities

Private law: Family, Contract, Tort, Commercial, Property, Estates, Labour

What are some civil actions?

➔ plaintiff - person/party launching action

➔ defendant - person/party being sued for harm, loss, injury

➔ plaintiff must prove probability of their claim; judge determines believability

\*No Crown Attorney

What are the roles and types of the civil court system in Canada?

* Defamation - Defamation is the communication about a person that tends to hurt the person's reputation. It causes the reader or listener to think less of the person.
* Libel is the type of defamation with a permanent record, like a newspaper, a letter, a website posting, an email, a picture, or a radio or TV broadcast.
* Slander is the type of defamation with no permanent record. Normally it's a spoken statement. It can also be a hand gesture or something similar

What is Defamation? What is libel and slander? What is the difference between these terms?

Process of taking legal action

litigation

Reason to come to court

cause of action

* Intentional torts - are usually offences committed by a person who attempts or intends to do harm. For intent to exist, the individual must be aware that injury will be the result of the act.
* Negligence torts - usually occur when someone acts carelessly, or fails to act at all, resulting in injury or loss to another person.

Tort Law – intentional torts & negligence torts

Negligence - is the basis of personal injury claims and lawsuits. The four requirements of negligence are as follows:
The defendant must owe a duty of care;
The defendant must have breached the standard of care;
The plaintiff must have suffered an injury and damage; and
The breach in the standard of care must have caused the injury and damage.

Elements of negligence

A defendant owes a duty of care, when it is “reasonably foreseeable” that the defendant’s acts or omissions could cause harm to the plaintiff.

duty of care

The plaintiff must show that if the defendant had not been negligent, the outcome would have been better. (Plaintif must shows that if the defendant proper outcome would be better)

Causation

occurs when one or both spouses decide to live apart with the intention of not living together again

Separation

To legally end a marriage, you need a divorce, which is a court order signed by a judge under the federal law called the Divorce Act.

Divorce

The house to which two spouses were living in

Matrimonial home

If you have a will, there will be no problems regarding family matters. For example, family disputes over property.

What is the purpose of having a will?

**What are the branches of law**

Legislative - Makes the law.

Executive - structure of law.

Judicial - courtroom, interprets the law.

disclosure

the portion of the litigation process where each party in the suit is required to disclose any documents that may be considered relevant to the case going to court

sentencing principles

* Deter the offender or others from committing future crimes.
* Remove an offender from society to prevent future crimes.
* Tailor the punishment to further the offender's rehabilitation.
* Provide reparations for harm done to victims or the community.