Defnititions

Question 1

arrest

Answer 1

To restrain someone’s liberty indicating they are not free so that they may answer a charge against them.

Question 2

pre disposition report

Answer 2

prepared by a youth worker and must include interviews with all relevant participants. The report considered age, maturity, character, attitude, plans for rehabilitation, ect. The court may also order medical or psychological reports.

Question 3

due process

Answer 3

A fair proceeding under the law

Question 4

ontario human rights commission

Answer 4

An administrative body of at least 7 persons that enforce the Ontario Human Rights Code. The role of the commission is to promote human dignity and equality, make policy and recommendations to the government, and investigate and settle disputes over rights and enforce the terms of the code.

Question 5

deterrence

Answer 5

the purpose of discouraging persons from committing a crime. Acts as a functional criterion.

Question 6

summary conviction offense

Answer 6

Less serious offenses

Question 7

inquisitorial system

Answer 7

In the civil law system the style of adjudication is known as the inquisitorial system. under this system the judge is responsible along with the parties for searching out evidence and examining witnesses

Question 8

statutory law

Answer 8

The laws which are created by elected representatives in the federal Parliament or a provincial Legislative Assembly

Question 9

pre sentence report

Answer 9

Prepared by a probation officer to help the court decide whether the accused should be placed on probation. It helps the judge to decide on an appropriate sentence for a convicted offender.

Question 10

administrative law

Answer 10

a division of law governing the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rule making, adjudication, and the enforcement of laws. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law

Question 11

charter of the UN

Answer 11

The charter is similar to a domestic constitution in that it is a written guideline for the internal organization and management of state affairs. The charter establishes the concept of a world government by establishing the basic principles to which the international community is to conform

Question 12

accessory after the fact

Answer 12

knowing that a person has been a party to an offense, receives comforts or assists that person for the purpose of enabling that person to escape

Question 13

conspiracy

Answer 13

an agreement between 2 or more people to commit an act prohibited by law.

Question 14

mistake of law

Answer 14

Sec 19 of the criminal code states that mistakes of law are not an excuse for committing a criminal act.

Question 15

plea bargain

Answer 15

The crown agrees to drop some charges or minimize a sentence for a plea of guilty. The defense and prosecution will agree on a recommended sentence in return for a guilty plea

Question 16

secure custody

Answer 16

a place where containment or restraint is possible

Question 17

philosophy

Answer 17

the process of critical inquiry into the concepts of a particular branch of knowledge through the use of logic and reason

Question 18

adversarial system

Answer 18

an attempt to determine truth by the confrontation of the accused and prosecution, both represented by attorneys. This system is based on the assumption that the search for truth is best served by the parties themselves and not through a judge

Question 19

natural law

Answer 19

the theory that law comes from a higher power/ divine origin. Set of ideal, enduring, and inflexible rules of conduct. Universal and absolute and were not made by humans.

Question 20

recognizance

Answer 20

an accused will pay a sum of money if they fail to appear for court.

Question 21

conventions

Answer 21

a type of international positive law. We are governed and agreed upon by states. A convention or treaty is defined as an instrument concluded between states in written form.

Question 22

voire dire

Answer 22

trial within a trial to determine whether evidence is admissible

Question 23

civil liability

Answer 23

describes monetary compensation to someone who has suffered a loss because of a violation of private law

Question 24

sovereignty

Answer 24

the principle upon which a nation or ruling body comes to exercise supreme political authority, jurisdiction, or power over the affairs of the state.

Question 25

open custody

Answer 25

custody in a community or residential center, group home, or child care institution

Question 26

mens rea

Answer 26

“Where a person intentionally does the forbidden act with the knowledge of all the wrongful circumstances which the statute seeks to prohibit.” ‘the guilty mind’ is not sufficient for someone to merely do the prohibited act, he or she must also have the necessary mental element to make the act punishable. The mental component of criminal conduct is the mens rea.

Question 27

extradition

Answer 27

One state’s surrender of a fugitive to another state within whose jurisdiction an alleged crime was committed.

Question 28

automatism

Answer 28

Involuntary, unconscious behavior when the mind does not go with what is being done. A state in which a person is not aware of what he or she is doing and may commit a crime unknowingly

Question 29

wilful blindness

Answer 29

A conscious closing of one’s mind to the consequences of one’s act.This in no way negates criminal intent. It does not take away the mens rea.

Question 30

ratio decidendi

Answer 30

Comparing and contrasting cases and their facts to apply legal precedence

Question 31

criminal attempt

Answer 31

an act related to carrying out a crime performed with a guilty intention whether or not the crime was completed

Question 32

procedural justice

Question 33

positive law

Answer 33

Has human authority as its origin. derived from the belief that law is simply what the political authority and lawmaker commands.

Question 34

sentencing

Answer 34

the process by which society, through the courts, imposes sanctions and punishments on a person found guilty of criminal conduct.

Question 35

aggravating circumstances

Answer 35

increase the seriousness of the conduct. ex) previous convictions, multiple victims, excessive cruelty

Question 36

community service order

Answer 36

an order for an accused to perform a certain number of hours of work in a program considered to be useful to the community. This provides an opportunity for the accused to achieve reconciliation between an offender and the community.

Question 37

mitigating circumstances

Answer 37

decrease the seriousness of the conduct. ex) absence of previous convictions, defender was young or elderly, provocation by the victim

Question 38

abstraction

Answer 38

When a narrow rule applied to a specific set of factors becomes a legal rule within a wider application