Introduction

Question 1

What is Due Process?

Answer 1

A possible purpose of the criminal justice system emphasizing the protection of the accused’s rights

• innocent until proven guilty
• allows the system and process to take its time

Question 2

What is Crime Control?

Answer 2

A possible purpose of the criminal justice system emphasizing the protection of the public

• those that are charged should be punished
• guilty until proven innocent
• no hurdles, quick justice

Question 3

What are administrative offences?

Answer 3

Not committing a new crime but breaking the orders that were put in place
- not technically breaking the law but broken due to other circumstances

Question 4

What are substantive offences?

Answer 4

Breaking the law

Question 5

What is R v Jordan and its impact on the criminal justice system?

Answer 5

Determine the maximum amount of time it can take for a trial to start

• Provincial is 18 months
• federal is 30 months

Question 6

What is factual guilt?

Answer 6

When the accused actually did commit the crime

- The Canadian Criminal Justice System is not concerned with this guilt

Question 7

What is legal guilt?

Answer 7

When the accused is legally responsible for their actions, in a criminal sense

• the guilt that the Canadian Criminal Justice System is concerned with
• guilty under law
• is possible that an accused in not factually guilty but is found to be legally guilty

Question 8

What is Actus Reus?

Answer 8

Action or conduct which is an element of crime

• external element
• guilty act

Question 9

What is Mens Rea?

Answer 9

The intention or knowledge of wrong doing that constitutes part of a crime

• mental element
• guilty mind

Question 10

What is a provincial court?

Answer 10

Court staffed by judges appointed by the province that tries all summary conviction offences and some indictable matters, conducts preliminary inquiries
- all crimes except for murder appear in provincial court

Question 11

What is the court of Queen’s Bench?

Answer 11

The higher court within the province

- murder and robbery trials

Question 12

What is the Court of Appeal?

Answer 12

The appellate court, the court that appeals cases

Question 13

What is a summary conviction?

Answer 13

Less serious offences

Question 14

What are legislative facts?

Answer 14

Facts relating to legislation or judicial policy

Question 15

What are adjudicative facts?

Answer 15

Facts that relate directly to the issue before the judge

Question 16

What is the Insider Perspective?

Answer 16

Examining the system from the insiders perspective (legal actors within the system)
- Ex. Lawyers, judges take over the case and determine its outcomes, sometimes with little regard as to what the victims want

Question 17

What is Common Law?

Answer 17

The body of judge-made law, developed on a case-by-case basis, through the interpretation and extension of decisions in previously decided cases
- rely on judicial interpretation of legislation

Question 18

What is codification?

Answer 18

The process of reducing the common law to a written statutory form

Question 19

What is the adversarial system?

Answer 19

A description of the legal system in Canada both parties to a dispute are represented by counsel who argue opposing positions and the dispute is settled by a judge who is an impartial arbiter
- this system has difficulty actually understanding what happened

Question 20

What is Amicus Curiae?

Answer 20

Someone appointed to assist the court by making representations in matters of law or fact that might not otherwise be addressed

• they offer info or expertise
• considered a friend of the court

Question 21

What are the different players in the Criminal Justice System?

Answer 21

• victims
• courts
• juries
• police

Question 22

Under Crime Control and Due Process what are victims rights?

Answer 22

Punitive Model - Emphasis on Punishment

Non-Punitive Model - Emphasis on Crime Prevention

Question 23

What is the role of the victim in the criminal justice system?

Answer 23

Today, a criminal prosecution can now be processed by the states agents without the victim’s consent, and even against the victims wishes

• it does however make it very difficult to have a case when the victim does not either testify or appear in courts
• the courts are unable to excuse witnesses from giving their testimony even if there is emotional trauma

Question 24

What is the role of the police in the CJS?

Answer 24

Certain cases they play a reactive role within society - respond to a complaint
Other cases play a proactive role - using undercover agents to catch people committing offences

Question 25

What is the role of the accused?

Answer 25

• Very dependent on the police, lawyers and other actors within the system as they will largely determine what will happen to the accused

Question 26

What are the roles of the witnesses and front-line workers

Answer 26

concerns for the witnesses are similar to those of the victims of the crime
- records kept by front-line workers are continuously being demanded by the defence counsel in sexual assault cases, exposing workers to serious dilemmas

Question 27

What is the role of the crown counsel?

Answer 27

Crown counsel is an objective non-partisan who presents the available evidence fairly

Question 28

What is the defence counsel?

Answer 28

Is an advocate, representing the interests of the accused

Question 29

What is the role of judges?

Answer 29

makes decisions based solely on the evidence presented to the court by the Crown and defence counsel

Question 30

What is the role of jurors?

Answer 30

• Makes research difficult as they are not allowed to discuss their deliberations
• many juror members develop high levels of stress

Question 31

What is the role of interveners?

Answer 31

The court grants individuals or organizations intervener status to assist the court in interpreting the law - they are not allowed to make arguments based on the merits of the case

Question 32

What level of government creates offences that appear in the criminal code?

Answer 32

federal government

Question 33

How is it determined which level of incarceration (prison) you get sent to?

Answer 33

Depends on sentencing

• crimes sentenced two year less a day are in provincial courts
• if someone is sent to a provincial prison does not mean their case went through provincial court

Question 34

What are federal criminal charges?

Answer 34

They only deal with drug related activity such as trafficking
- federal crowns only deal with drug related crimes

Question 35

What are provincial crowns in charge of?

Answer 35

Anything else but drug trafficking

Question 36

How do judges determine what constitutes as a criminal offence?

Answer 36

They will start by looking at the Criminal Code and then rely upon other cases and their own initiative to interpret that legislation
- rely on judicial interpretations

Question 37

The federal government has jurisdiction over what in the constitution in terms of legal matters?

Answer 37

• The Criminal Law

- Except the Constitution of the Courts of Criminal Jurisdictions - including the procedures in Criminal Matters

Question 38

The provincial government has jurisdiction over what in the constitution in terms of legal matters?

Answer 38

Maintenance and management of public and reformatory prisons for the province

Question 39

What is the supreme law of Canada?

Answer 39

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Question 40

What is section 1 of the Charter?

Answer 40

Rights and freedoms contained in the Charter are subject to such “reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society
- rights set out in the charter are not absolute rights