Chapter 4 - Section 1 Flashcards
The Canadian Legal System
What area of law does Criminal Law address?
Deals with wrongs against society. Relies on a system of punishment as a means of enforcing its many rules, all of which are defined by statute in the criminal code
How does Criminal Law deal with violators?
Violators are prosecuted in the criminal courts by a prosecuting counsel, the representative of authority. The penalties for violation of society’s laws are generally limited to fines, imprisonment or probation
What area of law does Civil Law or common law address?
Civil law is concerned with settling disputes between individuals or other legal entities in matters not involving a criminal act
What is the goal of Civil Law?
The goal in any civil action is to seek compensation for the amount of the financial loss or damage suffered by the wronged party
What are the two branches of Civil Law?
- Contract Law (Law of Contract)
- Tort Law (Law of Tort)
What is a Statute Law?
Written law and is derived from Bills introduced into parliament and provincial legislative assemblies to deal with specific needs
How does Statute Law affect Civil Law or Common Law?
When passed, they take priority over any existing common law dealing with the same matter
Define “tort”
A wrong done to another in breach of a duty laid down by law. It is not a breach of contract
Identify and explain, using examples, the three elements of a tort, or establish negligence
Legal Duty Owed
Presupposes that one party has the right not be harmed unreasonably and the other party has a duty to refrain from causing harm. This must be a non-contractual right, otherwise it places the situation within the area of contract law
Ex: The defendant owed the plaintiff a legal duty
Duty Breached
There must be either a violation of the right to be free from harm or a breach of the duty not to harm
Ex: This legal duty was breached as a result of the defendant’s negligence
The plaintiff suffered damages as a proximate result of the defendant’s negligence
Defendants are responsible only for those damages which arose directly out of their actions and not those which resulted from other intervening causes
Ex: A girl slipped on ice in the parking lot of a store and broke her ankle. While she was attempting to each the store for first aid, she was struck by a car that skidded through a stop sign which resulted in back and neck injuries. If the court rules against store owners, they are only required to pay damages arising out of the ankle injury
Define “negligence”
The legal equivalent of carelessness
“The omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided by those ordinary considerations which ordinarily regulate human affairs, would do, or the doing of something which a reasonable and prudent man would not do”
The law generally holds innocent until proven guilty. State and briefly explain three exceptions to this risk
Liability in Statute
Statutes created by provincial and federal governments may impose strict liability
Res Ipsa Loquitur
This legal maxim, which means “the thing speaks for itself”, is used to identify accidents that cannot be accounted for without negligence on the part of the defendant
Strict Liability
Laws imposing strict liability proceed on the basis that “a person is guilty until proven innocent”
Identify the four kinds of losses that might be insured by Liability policies
- Bodily injury, including sickness, disease and death
- Personal injury such as mental anguish, shock and humiliation
- Damage to property, including its loss of use
- Direct financial loss
What is meant by coverage provided for third party claims only?
The coverage provided by liability policies is described as third party coverage
While property insurance policies provide payment directly to the owner of the property lost or damaged, liability policies indemnify the insured for payments to others for which the insured is legally liable
Briefly explain Compensatory Damage
While the courts may award damages which are intended to make an example of tortfeasors or to punish them, the only damages paid by liability policies are those which are awarded as compensation for the amount of the third party’s financial loss. These are referred to as compensatory damages. This compensation will be assessed in terms of money
Briefly explain Special Damages
Damages which can be accurately measured and which are intended to reimburse the plaintiff for out of pocket expenses
