Criminal Courts System

Question 1

What is the first tier of the criminal court system?

Answer 1

Lower Courts: Provincial and Territorial Jurisdiction
- Used for summary offences, or minor offences
This is known as assembly line justice - Things like traffic court, where you don’t even talk to a judge -
Urban Courts: you talk to a clerk! You’ll get the most amount of variation in sentencing, based on who’s behind the desk
Circuit Courts: The judge is only in once a week, typical in rural areas

Question 2

What is the second tier of the court system?

Answer 2

Higher Courts: Federal/Provinical/Territorial Jurisdiction

• This is for multiple or indictable offences
• youth, family, and alimony: This is a true, formalized court system. There is preparation involved, with defences planned.
• Specialty Courts: Courts where the focus is assistance rather than prosecution. Youth court (YCJA), family court, drug treatment court, mental health court, indigenous court
• Parent Patri: The State takes control of your child

Question 3

What is the third tier of the court system?

Answer 3

This is where you go when you’re guilty (if you choose), only if you have money because your ATTORNEY needs to FILE for one. The Appellate court: This is provincial and federal

• They bring in new evidence, facts, witnesses
• They deal wth mistake of law and charter violations
• You can deal with judicial and jury bias and error

Question 4

What is the fourth tier of the court system?

Answer 4

Supreme Court of Canada 1876
Patronage: This is how we choose our supreme court justices. Judges should retire by 72, it’s public service
- At this point, you are guilty. You need to prove that you are innocent. They are the ultimate interpreter of the law. – Deal with 100-150 cases a year
- 3 judges come from Quebec (because they follow different laws), a chief judge, and 8 puisnes (judge that is not the chief judge)
If a law is decreed unconstitutional, we give the government a year to fix it e.g. Carter case, got the euthanasia law fixed

Question 5

Describe the difference between Crime control and due process (Packer 1968

Answer 5

This is a continuum, that we go back and forth upon depending on the current values of the nation. Canada is pretty much in the middle Overall, packer says that it is better to let a guilty person go than to incarcerate someone who is innocent
Crime control has the napoleonic law: Guilty until proven innocent. It has lots of trust in what the police say, as well as the court. They are big on arrests and corrections
Due process goes by english common law - innocent until proven guilty. They DO NOT trust the police, and put checks and balances on the court system. They do more diversion than correction