Key Terms - Chapters 2 and 3

conventions

agreements or arrangements that are not necessarily part of a formal contract but nevertheless impose an obligation on the parties involved

statute

a law passed by our elected representatives at either the federal or provincial level

common/case law

law that is based on judicial decisions, as opposed to areas of law governed mostly by statues

rule of precedent

cases should be decided in the same way if the facts are the same based on tradition and customs and lower courts are bound to the decisions of the higher courts

impartiality

judges cannot permit their feelings for those involved in the case to enter into their judgements

restorative justice

a legal system that focuses on rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and society at large for purpose of returning society to the way it was prior to the offence

primary sources of law

those that have influences our ideas about law over several years

secondary sources of law

the law and cases that were codified

domestic law

the laws a sovereign state can make within its own territory or boundaries

international law

agreements between sovereign states

procedural law

the rules that must be followed in any legal action

trial by combat

the accused challenges the accuser to a duel - god would be on the side of the righteous party

trial by ordeal

the accused undergoes an ordeal that injures them - god decides their innocence

rule of law

laws apply to everyone

perjury

lying under oath

democracy

a form of government in which the power resides in, and is exercised by, the people through a system of representation

genocide

systematic killings of an entire group of human beings based on their ethnicity or religion

jurisdiction

the parameters within which authority may be exercised

power

ability to make others act or refrain from acting

authority

legal right to make people act or refrain from acting

ownership

having legal title to property or possession or being the person who is in possession

united nations

an international peace organization to promote peace, in part, by limiting the sovereignty of those nation-states that agreed to membership

sovereignty

principle that nation-states are free to impose whatever laws they choose within their own territories

right

the legal obligation of the state to provide something

duty

an obligation to provide a right

equality

same treatment for everyone

equity

treating of like cases alike and different cases differently

morality

a sense of whether an action is right or wrong

humanity

kindness to all people

law

a set of rules impartially applied for regulating behaviour and settling disputes

justice

the idea of providing fairness and equity

natural law

morals that are inherent in human nature

divine law

the belief of divine intervention, meaning all laws come from god

positive law

the written laws of a particular society at a particular point in time

legitimacy

the right to inherit

uniformity

like cases must be decided alike