General law question about

Question 1

What are the three reasons that we need law?

Answer 1

• Necessary for protection of persons and property ( assault & theft)
• Law gives government the powers to act for the benefit of society in general within rule of law. (def: established legal principles that treat all persons equally and t hat government itself obeys)
• law provides a framework that gives us broader freedom of choice
  (eg. Contract- is reliable because it is enforceable).

Question 2

Why is the law generally obeyed?

Answer 2

• Most people accept the need to “obey the rules” for reasonably predictable and orderly relations among human beings as being an essential quality of society.
• The system of justice must continue to be seen as just fort this to prevail.

Question 3

What is the significance of law?

Answer 3

• Modern society cannot function without laws and regulations
• When business executives are asked what are the key reasons that determine whether or not they decide to invest in a particular country, one of the most important determinants is legal certainty
• A country must provide an adequate legal infrastructure in which rights are clearly defined and properly enforced.

Question 4

Who are the laws made by?

Answer 4

The law is made by government.

Question 5

What is procedural law?

Answer 5

It is law that deals with the protection and enforcement of rights and duties.

Question 6

What is substantive law?

Answer 6

It is the rights and duties that each person has in society

Question 7

7. What are the two ways that substantive laws can be divided? Explain each.

Answer 7

Public law: law concerned with the conduct of government and with the relationship between government and private persons.
Private law: the rules governing relations between private persons or groups of persons.
eg.) Contracts, torts, property, trusts

Question 8

What is Civil Law?

Answer 8

The system of law derived from Roman law that developed in Continental Europe and was greatly influenced by the Code Napoleon of 1804.

Question 9

What is Common Law?

Answer 9

The system of law covering most of the English-speaking world, based on precedent – the recorded reasons given by judges for their decisions and adopted by judges in later cases.

Question 10

Why does law need to be consistent and predictable?

Answer 10

• Equal and consistent treatment in like situation is one of the most important aspects of justice and hence of law.
• Predictability
• If people are to be able to find out where they stand and to act with reasonable certainty, the law itself must be fairly predictable.

Question 11

What is Stare Decisis?

Answer 11

Stare decisis is: stand by a previous decision

Question 12

12. Why should laws accommodate change? Which countries do?

Answer 12

• There is a danger in overruling decided cases too freely
• to do so would undermine the needed consistency and predictability in law
• U.S. & Britain – highest Courts now state they are not bound by their previous decisions.

Question 13

13. What are the 2 main sources of law?

Answer 13

• Judiciary

- Subordinate legislation

Question 14

14. What is a remedy for the common law system?

Answer 14

It is: Damages

Question 15

15. What is a remedy for the equity law system?

Answer 15

It is: specific performance/ contempt of court

Question 16

What is Equity Law?

Answer 16

Equity: rules of law administered by the courts of equity. (Courts of chancery: a system of courts that developed from the hearing of petitions by the king and his chancellor and vice-chancellors)
Equity was a gloss on common law; it was a set of rules which could be invoked to supplement the deficiencies of common law or to ease the clumsy working of common law actions and remedies.

Question 17

17. What is a Statute?

Answer 17

• Acts or Parliament; provincial legislatures & municipalities
• A Statute overrides the common law

Question 18

18. What are the two ways a Statute can override the Common Law?

Answer 18

Sometimes the statute will change the common law and sometimes it will codify it.

Question 19

19. What is Administrative Law?

Answer 19

Administrative Law is “passive” and “active” classes of legislation
Subordinate Legislation – eg. Regulations

Question 20

20. When was the common law developed?

Answer 20

Common law was developed in Britain after the Norman invasion. (Based on precedents)

Question 21

21. What is the legal system known as in Quebec?

Answer 21

In Quebec, the legal system is known as “civil law”, or law that is written down in a code.

Question 22

22. What is the basic role of the Courts in Canada?

Answer 22

The basic role of the courts in Canada is to help people resolve disputes fairly and with justice, whether the matter is between individuals or between individuals and the state.

Question 23

23. Why do most disputes not end up in court?

Answer 23

People tend to settle their differences informally-through alternative dispute resolution, for instance, or before boards and tribunal-though often with the idea of “going to court” in the background.

Question 24

24. What are the Provinces and Territories responsible for providing the courts?

Answer 24

They are responsible for providing everything necessary for their courts, from building and maintaining the courthouses, to providing staff and resources such as interpreters, court reporters to prepare transcripts, sheriffs and registry services.

Question 25

25. What do Provincial Courts normally deal with?

Answer 25

• Provincial/territorial courts deal with
• most criminal offences
• family law matters (except divorce)
• young persons in conflict with the law (from 12 to 17 years old)
• traffic violations
• provincial/territorial regulatory offences
• claims involving money, up to a certain amount (set by the jurisdiction in question)
• Private disputes involving limited sums of money may also be dealt with at this level in Small Claims courts
• In addition, all preliminary inquiries- hearings to determine whether there is enough evidence to justify a full trial in serious criminal cases- takes place before the provincial/territorial courts.

Question 26

26. What is the DTC program?

Answer 26

One example is the Drug Treatment Court (DTC) program, which began in Toronto in 1998

• The object of the DTCs is the address the needs of non-violet offenders who are charged with criminal offences that were motivated by their addiction
• Those who qualify are offered an intensive combination of judicial supervision and treatment for their dependence

Question 27

27. What does Youth Court deal with?

Answer 27

• Youth courts handle cases where a young person, from 12 to 17 years old, is charged with an offence under federal youth justice laws
• Procedures in youth court provide protections appropriate to the age of the accused, including privacy protections
• Court at either the provincial/territorial or superior court level can be designated youth courts.

Question 28

28. List the names given to the Superior Courts.

Answer 28

Superior Court of Justice

• Supreme Court (not to be confused with the Supreme Court of Canada)
• Court of Queen’s Bench

Question 29

29. What does “inherent jurisdiction” mean?

Answer 29

The superior courts have “inherent jurisdiction” which means that they can hear cases in any area except those that are specifically limited to another level of court.

Question 30

30. Who are the judges in the superior court appointed by?

Answer 30

The judges are appointed and paid by the federal government.

Question 31

31. How many judges does the court of appeal usually have sit on a panel?

Answer 31

Court of appeal usually sits as a panel of three.

Question 32

32. What does the court of appeal do?

Answer 32

The courts of appeal also hear constitutional questions that may be raised in appeals involving individuals, governments, or governmental agencies.