Law 12 Chapter 2 Vocabulary terms

Question 1

Administrative Law

Answer 1

Textbook Response: “Administrative law refers to the many government departments, boards, and tribunals that play a role in regulating the relationship between people and government agencies.”

Question 2

Bylaws

Answer 2

Textbook Response: Regulations which deal with the local issues. Bylaws enforce things like how high a backyard fence should be, who should clear the snow from the sidewalk, or how often the garbage should be collected.

Question 3

Civil/Private Law

Answer 3

Textbook Response: This type of law covers all the areas of law that deal with legal relationships between individuals and between individuals and organizations (excluding the government)

Question 4

Constitutional Law

Answer 4

Textbook Response: The document that determines the structure of the federal government and divides law - making powers between the federal and provincial governments. Constitutional law is at the top of the pyramid in order of importance of the law, as it overrides all other laws.

Question 5

Contract Law

Answer 5

Textbook Response: This law deals with everyday transactions in which people purchase or provide goods and services. If people are satisfied with their puchases or the level of service provided, and pay what is owed, disputes do not arise. However, if one party fails to uphold the terms of the agreement, the other may seek the court’s assistance to have the terms enforced.

Question 6

Criminal Law

Answer 6

Textbook Response: Criminal law prohibits and punishes behaviour that causes harm to others, such as murder, robbery, or assault.

Question 7

Distinguishing a Case?

Answer 7

Textbook Response: Identifying a case as being sufficiently different from previous cases as to warrant a different decision.

Question 8

Statute Law

Answer 8

Textbook Response: Laws that are passed be elected representitives in the form of acts. Acts become law when they pass through a formal procedure in Parliament or provincial legislatures.

Question 9

Domestic Law

Answer 9

Textbook Response: Law made and enforced within a nation’s borders is known as Domestic Law.

Question 10

International Law

Answer 10

Textbook Response: The body of law that governs the legal relations between or among states or nations.

Question 11

Jurisdiction

Answer 11

Textbook Response: The political or legal authority to pass and enforce laws, or the judicial authority to decide a case.

Question 12

Procedural Law

Answer 12

Textbook Response: The body of law that prescribes formal steps to be taken in enforcing legal rights.

Question 13

Property Law

Answer 13

Textbook Response: Property law regulates ownership rights in all property, including the ownership and transfer of real estate.

Question 14

Public Law

Answer 14

Textbook Response: Public Law regulates the relationship between the government and its citizens.

Question 15

Statute Law

Answer 15

Textbook Response: A law or act passed by the government.

Question 16

Substantive Law

Answer 16

Textbook Response: This defines the rights, duties, and obligations of citizens and the levels of governments.

Question 17

Tort Law

Answer 17

Textbook Response: The branch of civil law that holds persons or private organizations responsible for damage they cause another person as a result of accidental or deliberate action.

Question 18

Adversarial System

Answer 18

Textbook Response: The Judicial process whereby evidence is presented by two opposing parties to an impartial judge or jury.

Question 19

Assizes

Answer 19

Textbook Response: Travelling courts

Question 20

Case law / Common law

Answer 20

Textbook Response/ passage which is very helpful with this concept: Over time, the judges began to notice similarities among various legal problems. Eventually they agreed that similar cases should be decided in the same way, so they began to record both their cases and their decisions. These records helped to establish a common method of dealing with similar legal issues.

Question 21

Circuit judges

Answer 21

Judges of travelling courts.

Question 22

Code of Hammurabi

Answer 22

One of the earliest-known sets of recorded laws, written by King Hammurabi of Babylon.

Question 23

Code of Li k’vei

Answer 23

A set of Chinese laws written around 350 BCE

Question 24

Codified

Answer 24

Arranged and recorded systematically.

Question 25

Divine right

Answer 25

The concept that monarchs and successors derived their power to rule from God and were accountable only to God.

Question 26

Great laws of Manu

Answer 26

Indian laws complied between 1280 and 880 BCE, previously transferred through oral tradition.

Question 27

Habeas Corpus

Answer 27

A court order designed to prevent unlawful arrest by ensuring that anyone detained is charged before a court within a reasonable amount of time.

Question 28

Justinian’s Code

Answer 28

A short story illustrating Justinian’s Code in context: After 395 CE, the Roman Empire was split into the Byzantine Empire and the Western Roman Empire. To strengthen his efforts to restore the declining empire to its former glory, Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527-565 CE) commissioned 10 men to study and clarify the 1600 books of Roman law. By 529 CE the task was complete, and Justinian had a new body of law known as Justinian’s Code.

Question 29

Magna Carta (NEED REVIEW)

Answer 29

A charter of political rights signed in 1215 at Runnymede in England.

Question 30

Mosaic Law / 10 Commandments

Answer 30

Mosaic Law: Biblical or Hebrew law found in the Book of Exodus.

10 Commandments: This is a form of Mosaic Law. In the Bible, we are told that Moses climbed a mountain called Mount Sinai, where God gave him laws to be followed by the Hebrew people. These laws are now commonly called the Ten Commandments.

Question 31

Napoleonic Code

Answer 31

The civil law of France completed in 1804 (also called the French civil code).

Question 32

Quebec Civil Code (Need Review!)

Answer 32

The system of law used in Quebec for resolving private matters.

Question 33

Restitution

Answer 33

Payment made by the offender to the victim of a crime.

Question 34

Retribution

Answer 34

Justice based on vengeance and punishment.

Question 35

Rule of Law

Answer 35

A three-part principle of justice. Firstly, Rule of Law means that individuals must recognize and accept that the law is necessary to regulate society. Secondly, it means that the law applies equally to everyone, including people in power such as heads of state, police officers, judges, and politicians. Finally, Rule of Law means that no one in our society has the authority to excercise unrestricted power to take our rights away.

Question 36

Rule of Precedent

Answer 36

Applying a previous decision to a case that has similar circumstances.

Question 37

Stare decisis

Answer 37

A Latin phrase meaning “to stand by decision”

Question 38

The Great Binding Law (Gaynashagowa)

Answer 38

The Constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Question 39

Trial by combat

Answer 39

Determining guilt or innocence by having the parties fight at a duel.

Question 40

Trial by oath helping

Answer 40

Requiring friends of the accused to swear on the Bible that he or she was innocent.

Question 41

Trial by ordeal

Answer 41

Requiring a person to undergo torture to determine guilt or innocence.