Intro to Canadian Law unit 1

Continuity and change- 3 legal periods- what concepts and ideas they came up with that have been adapted or changed and how it works in our current legal system 

Intravires (Within power of government), ultravires (outside of government power) 


Number the proper order in which a bill becomes a law- 8 steps

DIfference between levels and branches of government



Continutiy and change Historical roots of law 

Code of Hammurabi

  • Continued to record rules and codify them 

  • Criminal and civil life (Torts)


Mosiac Law

  • People are protected under the law 


Greek Law

  • Continued dea of death penalty 

  • Introduced and continued  democracy


Roman Law

  • Continue to use lawyers


Justnian code 

  • Formed base of civil law 

Early British law 

  • Continued the adversarial system today



Common Law

  • Rule of precedent continued today

  • Stare decisis concept used today




Rules vs Law 


Laws

  • Laws are rules made by the government to control or change behaviour

  • Laws are enforced by courts 

  • Breaking a law results in punishment such as fines, paying for damage or jail

  • Provides a way to settle a dispute peacefully. 

  • The Rule Of Law-  An essential principle that the same laws apply to everyone equally. 



Rules 

  • Unwritten rules based on moral and values (Rules at schools)

  • Rules are more based on values and beliefs and have less consequence than Laws 




How are Laws made

  • A law is made by ideas becoming bills which then get approved and go through 6 steps to make it a law 

  • STEP 1: Member of parliament (Cabinet minister)  presents a Bill in House of Commons 


  • STEP 2: Members of parliament discuss advantages and disadvantages of proposed bill in Second Reading 


  • STEP 3: Sent to the Standing Committee (Group of MPS from diff parties) Experts and public can also present view 


  • STEP 4: Recommended changes are discussed in House of Commons 


  • STEP 5: Bill is read for 3rd time and discussed and voted on. 


  • STEP 6: If Bill is passed 3 times in House of Commons, it must be approved by senate and signed by the Governor General 


  • Governor General signs on behalf of the king and bill becomes law 





Responsibilites of each level of government


Federal Government 

  • Main system of Gov

  • Located in Ottawa- Parliament Hill

  • Elections held every 4 years

  • Divided into 338 jurisdictions

  • Each Jurisdiction has an election MP

  • Leader of party with most MP’s is PM

  • PM selects a cabinet 



5 Main parties in Canada 

  • Liberal Party 

  • Conservative Party

  • NDP

  • Green Party 

  • Bloc Quebecois 



Federal Government Services 

  • Military

  • Banking

  • Postal System

  • Transportation

  • Communication

  • Taxation and Fiscal policy

  • Trade

  • Immigration 

  • Foreign Policy





Provincial Government 

  • Province and territory has a gov

  • 10 provincial 3 territorial governments

  • Home of legislature- Queens park 

  • Divided into 107 Jurisdictions 

  • Each Jurisdiction has a representative

  • Citizens vote for jurisdiction

  • Leader of party with most MPP is Premier, chooses a cabinet who helps make decisions 




Provincal Government services 

  • Education 

  • Police (OPP)

  • Healthcare/Hospitals

  • Drivers liscnese 

  • Tourism 

  • Energy

  • Social assistance 

  • Farming

  • Foresrty, land, wildfire

  • Provincal Parks and Highways 

Provincal funding 

  • PST(Provincal Sales Tax)

  • HST( Harmonized Sales Tax)

  • Traffic tickets 

  • license fees

  • Transfer payments from federal government 





Municipal Government 

  • Representative democracy

  • Create by-laws (Small laws like street parking)

  • Meetings held weekly 

  • To establish a municipality, must have concil to make decisions, official boundaries 

  • By-laws meet specific needs of a community 



Municipal Services 

  • Libraries 

  • Waste collection 

  • Police and Fire station

  • Parks 

  • Snow clearance 

  • Public transit 

  • Animal control 

  • Economic Development

  • Zoning and development

  • Water and Sewage 



Intravires & Ultravires 

Ultra vires- Beyond power of government to pass law

Example: If federal governemnt try to change the education system 

Intra Vires- Within power of government to pass law- 

 Example: if federal government makes a change to immigration process 



Substantive law

  •  Public & Private Law (also civil law)

  • Public law has 3 categories; Constitutional, administrative,criminal law

  • Public law regulates realtionshp between government and public

  • Canadians are most affected by administrative law (injury at work place)

  • Main purpose of Private law is to compensate individuals for injuries that happen because of others. 


Procedural Law: 

  • Follow proper steps in legal actions, failure to do so can lead to case being dropped

  • Refers to the proper steps that must be followed in legal actions 

  • Laws that define the obligations, duties, rights as a citizen 



Justice & Jurisprudence 

   Justice

  • Fairness 

  • Moral rightness 

  • Equality & Equity

  • Punishment for wrong committed 


Jurisprudence 

  • The study of law 

  • Philosophy of law 



Positivist V Naturalist 

Positivist 

  • Law is the law 

  • Morality should not come into question

  • Only source of law is rules made by government 


Naturalist 

  • Laws are not only source of law 

  • Moral philosophy, human reason and circumstance all come into play 





Judicial Branch 

  • Highest court in Canada and last chance to appeal 

  • Responsble for interpreting and applying laws through courts

  • Made up of 9 justices: 8+ 1 Chief Justice 

  • Appointed by Governor General 

  • 3 levels of Judicial 

  1. Provincal Courts

  2. Federal Courts 

  3. Supreme Court 



Executive Branch 

  • Made of Governor General, PM, Queens appointed representative, Cabinet 

  • Oversees the day to day operations of the government 

  • Put laws made by legislative branch into action 



Legislative Branch  

  • Debates potential laws and create new legislation

  • Make decisions on spending

  • Known as Parliament

  • Divided into House of Commons & Senate 



Precedent & Stare Decisis 

  • Stare decisis- applying a previous decision to a case that has similar circumstances 

  • The rule of precedent is applying a previous decision to a case that has similar circumstances 


Three branches of Law 

  1. Constitutional law

  • law dealing with description of government powers

  • Overrides Statue and Common Law 

  • Example: The Adoption Information Disclosure Act was passed then violated the Charter of rights and freedom so it was rewritten 

  1. Statute Law 

  • A law or act passed by government 

  • Example: Federal government could not extend school das because it falls under jurisdiction of the provincial government 

  1. Common Law 

  • Law that originates from decisions made by judges in other courts 

  • Example: A case involving the internet does not have precedent to rely on.



Tree branches of law 


Domestic law branches 

Substantive Law

Private law

Tort (injuries), Contract,family WIlls & estates, Property law, employment law 



Administrative Law - law related to the relationship between people and government department, boards, and agencies.


Bylaws: Laws that deal with local issues and are passed by municipal governments.


Civil/private law: law governing the relationships between private individuals, between individuals and organizations, and between organizations.


Criminal law: law that identifies crimes and prescribes punishment


Tort law: the branch of civil law that holds persons or private organizations responsible for damage they cause another person as a result of accidental or deliberate action.


Constitutional law: body of law dealing with the distribution and exercise of government powers


Contract law: the branch of civil law that provides rules regarding agreements between people and businesses


Family law: the branch of civil law that deals with various aspects of family life


Estate law: the branch of civil law concerned with the division of property after death


English common law: law that originates from decisions made by judges  in previous cases


Distinguishing a case: identifying a case as being sufficiently different from previous cases as to warrant a different decision.