LAW 1 TERMS Flashcards
Law
A set of rules of conduct, established by the government, for all members of society to obey and follow.
Code of Hammurabi
Hammurabi recognized the need to take nearly 300 laws and present them in a recorded form to all citizens. This set of laws is one of the most important and earliest records we have of full written laws.
Earliest codification of law 4000 years ago.
Codification
A code is simply a written collection of a country’s laws, Clearly arranged so that they can be used and understood. The process of preparing a code is called codification.
Retribution
The code followed a principle that the strong should not injure the weak, and the punishment should fit the crime, prescribing “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”
A deserved penalty; Vengeance.
Mosaic Law
A code of laws set out in the first five books of the testament, established under Moses, approximately in 1400 BC.
Ten Commandments
Engraved on two stone tablets from god. Forbids such things as killing, adulatory, and bearing false witness, continues to hold central position in teachings of both the Jewish and Christian faiths.
One of the main parts of mosaic law.
Restitution
Mosaic Law required restitution, the offender repaying the victim for goods stolen.
The act of making good; the act of returning what was unlawfully taken away from a person.
Justinian Code
A code of law put into writing under Justinian, empower of Rome, during fifth and sixth centuries. A collection of past laws, opinions from leading Roman legal experts, and new laws enacted by Justinian.
Napoleonic code/French civil code
A code of civil law drawn up by Napoleon Bonaparte, and adapted in France in 1804; the basis of the civil law in Quebec today.
Feudalism
A political, social, and economic system prevalent in Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries that was based on the relations between lords and vassals.
Assizes
Trials held before travelling judges.
Common law
1) Law that relies on court decisions for its authority and recorded in case law reports, as distinct from statute law.
2) The law that developed in English courts, as distinct from French civil law.
3) Law that is common to all people.
Stare decises or precedent
Stare decises: Latin phrase meaning “to stand by previous decisions”.
Precedent: The legal principle in which court cases with similar facts result in similar decisions also known as state decises.
Case law
The decisions of judges, in contrast to statute law, recorded in reports to form precedents.
Citation
A reference to the source of a law case found in reports.
Rule of Law
The fundamental principle that neither the individual nor the government is above the law; society is governed by law that applies equally to all persons.
Parliament
The highest national law-making body in Canada
Statute Law:
All law passed by parliament or a provincial legislature
British North America Act (BNA act)
Canada’s first constitution: an Act of the British Parliament that brought the dominion of Canada into being on July 1,1867.
Statute Of West Minister 1931:
An act passed in 1931 in England, giving Canada specific rights concerning law making.
Amending formula:
A procedure to amend or change Canada’s constitution without the involvement of the British Parliament.
Patriation:
To return to one’s own country; for example, the patriation of Canada’s constitution from England in 1982
Constitution Act 1867
Formerly the British North America act 1867, distributed legislative powers between federal and provincial governments.
Constitution Act 1982
Canadians constitution, which includes the Canadian Charter of rights and freedoms and an amending formula.
Jurisdiction:
Authority or power to do something, such as make laws.
Bylaws
Written laws formally passed by a municipality
Crown Attorney
A prosecutor of criminal matters on behalf of the crown and society.
Accused:
A person charged with a crime
Defendent
A party being sued in a civil action or charged by a criminal offence
Plaintiff
A party suing in civil action
