Chapter 1 Flashcards
Justice & law definition
Justice is a process of applying the law
Law is a set of rules to maintain order and provide fair treatment to all
Why do we respect the law?
Faith in lawmakers or fear of punishment
What are ethics? (5)
- No universal definition
- A concern for the well being of others
- Moral values of society
- The “right thing” to do
- Fairness, conciliation and good faith
Fundamental principles of ethics (5)
- Be respectful of others
- Act honestly and fairly
- Comply with the law
- Do not act maliciously
- Inspire trust
Ethics general definition
Ethics are moral values, our personal views on what is right and wrong
Ethical principles are not decided by government lawmakers
Society’s ethical views on appropriate behavior and acceptable conduct changes over time
Changes in ethical beliefs help foster changes to the law
Law vs. ethics
Laws are often slow to change since lawmakers must deal with conflicting ethical views of their constituents
Law sets out defined objective standards and are enforced by the courts
Example: law sets the legal minimum wage rate
Ethical principles on the other hand are subjective in nature and are not enforced by the courts
Example: ethics asks “is the minimum wage rate fair?”
Private vs. Public Law
Private Law: deals with the relationships between persons
Public Law: deals with the relationship between the government acting in an official capacity and its citizens
Enforcement of citizens’ duties to the state, i.e. criminal law and income tax
Breach of public law: punishment
This course only deals with issues of private law
Contractual liability
Contractual liability: CCQ 1458 (p.345)
- Duty to honour contractual undertakings
- Compensation: bodily, moral, material damages
Non-contractual liability
Non-contractual liability (Civil responsibility): CCQ 1457 (p. 345)
-Endowed with reason
Duty not to injure
-Compensation: bodily, moral, material damages
-Vicarious liability (indirect liability)
liability of employer for actions of employee: CCQ 1463 (p. 345)
Does not involve the government acting in its official capacity.
Private law does cover the actions of government where the government is acting in a commercial capacity, i.e. government is an employer or is purchasing goods and services
Breach of private law: compensation for bodily, moral and material injury (damage)
Civil law
Common Law: deals with Federal laws that have common application all across Canada, also applies in all other Canadian provinces for matters under their provincial jurisdiction
Historically based on the British law system where general principles of law were not codified into a Civil Code
When faced with a legal question, lawyers and judges refer to
First: Jurisprudence (previous court cases) in order to determine how judges treated similar situations in the past
Second: Statutes (law) would be examined
Substantive law
Substantive: sets out the specific rights and responsibilities that persons are bound by
Example: Civil Code
Adjectival / Procedural law
Adjectival/Procedural: sets out rules on how substantive laws should be applied
Example: Code of Civil Procedure sets out the steps to take and the order to file documents when instituting a lawsuit
This course only deals with issues of Substantive law
Litigation
The formal procedure by which a person takes a court action against another person to claim damages / recover a debt / enforce an obligation
Litigation is also referred to as a Lawsuit
Creditor: the person to whom a debt is owed
Debtor: the person who owes a debt / obligation to another
Plaintiff: the person who initiates a lawsuit (litigation) against his/her Debtor
Defendant: the person against whom the lawsuit is taken
Class Action lawsuit
Where multiple persons have a similar claim against a common Defendant, proof of one person’s claim will be sufficient to prove the damages suffered by all Plaintiffs
Example: a Class Action might be taken by all purchasers of a new automobile, Brand X, that has manufacturing defects in its brake system. The cost of repairing the defect in each car is sufficiently similar to allow a judge to render a decision compensating a large number of Plaintiffs, without each Plaintiff having to get their own garage estimate of the repair costs
Benefits of Class Actions
- Saves court time, one lawyer represents all of the Plaintiffs collectively
- Saves legal costs to Plaintiffs, facilitates access to court for those who may not otherwise be able to afford a lawsuit on their own
