Substantive Law: Laws that give you your rights or tells you what your rights are such as the Civil Code of Quebec

Adjectival Law: Laws that tell you how to go about exercising those laws such as The Quebec Code of Civil Procedure

You sue because somebody owes you money or something else or an obligation and refuses to perform and to become whole again, you ask the judge to put you back to the place you were before by ordering the other person to perform obligations.

You have to convince the judge right up until the balance of probabilities to see who is more right.

Legal proceedings begin with alternative dispute mechanisms such as arbitration and mediation. Followed by the exchange of documents between the parties and then a court appearance.

A mediator acts like a judge, they are a neutral third party that tries to get the two sides to come to an agreement but doesn’t have the power to enforce.

A arbiter acts like a judge, the two parties agree arbitrator has the power to make a decision to bind the two parties.

The parties involved are the plaintiff and the defendant.

You sue in the court of the place where the defendant lives, where the damage was done, where the defendant has property, the cause took place, the contract was finalized, and where the property in dispute is situated.

You can sue from the moment you become aware.

Prescription: the lapse of time that you are allowed to sue. Your time to sue in civil law is 10 years.

For municipality for civil liability, you have 6 months to sue.

For unpaid salary you have 1 year to sue up to 6 months’ worth of salary.

For libel or slander you have 1 year to sue.

For execution of judgement, you have 10 years to sue

For personal injury or damage to property you have 3 years maximum to sue.

Only in criminal law is there no time limit known as the statutes of limitations.

Theirs’s only  certain time period because of the degradation of evidence, and you want a case as fresh as possible in its most tangible form.

Before you sue, you need to try to resolve the dispute through mediation or arbitration.

Lawyer’s letter is a way to come to an understanding to resolve the issue. It’s not an official proceeding and is used to avoid suing, however lawyer’s cannot claim legal fees.

In the initial lawsuit, the process starts off with an application.

The second stage occurs when the person being sued as to answer.

The parties than get together to figure out how much time they need so each side will have a chance to do some discovery in what is known as case protocol or case management conference. A request for trial and judgement must be set 6 months once case protocol is set.

The fourth stage of the procedure is the defence where the defendant files their defence.

The last stage of the procedure is the request for sitting down for trial and judgment.

Some optional proceedings that the court can call upon includes examination upon discovery, seizure before judgement, subpoena, rogatory commission, and an injunction.

An examination upon discovery is used for when you have set a date and you know what witnesses you can call in to interrogate them.

A seizure before judgement can be used if the defendant might hide all his money before the case, the bailiff can come in and seize it.

A rogatory commission is sued for when a person cannot be called to court, so you go to the person to get the information.

An injunction is a court order forcing an action that requires an action by an individual. An example would be an injunction to stop harassing somebody.

The service is when a bailiff will take a copy of the lawsuit and go find the defendant and give it to them. The best case is giving it to them directly. However, it can be left at home or with a reasonable person, if no one is home the bailiff can get a court authorization to mail it or leave it in newspaper. If the person can’t be located, they can place the lawsuit in the paper.

Burden of Proof: Whoever is making a claim has the burden of proof.

Best evidence rules Always something on paper or video recording. Original documents are better than photocopies.

If you when a case, the court orders must be executed within a delay, which is, the time period the defendant must pay the plaintiff. Usually, the delay period is 10 days.

If they don’t pay within the delay than they default. By defaulting, the court can now seize assets of the defendant. The court can seize salary and have a judicial sale of seized property.

The exemptions from seizure include household furnishing, basic items, professional instruments, personal family items, minimum salary, and immovables when claim is under $20, 000.

The cost in legal proceedings is made up of expenses and fees. Expenses include court changes for each proceeding placed in a lawsuit and out of court expenses (travelling, expert witnesses/opinions). Fees are made up of lawyer fees.