Legal Terms: Chapter Three - The Judiciary: The Third Branch of Government

Question 1

Appellant

Answer 1

Individual, corporation or entity who lost at a trial and who initiates an appeal to a higher court.

Question 2

Binding

Answer 2

A decision made by a higher court that must be followed by a lower court in the same jurisdiction (on the principle of stare decisis)

Question 3

Case

Answer 3

Refers to the reasons for judgement (where the court provides them) to the court process, or to the entire dispute from beginning to end.

Question 4

Case Brief

Answer 4

Summary of case with constituent parts of the court’s reasons for judgement arranged in a set order.

Question 5

Court

Answer 5

State-sanctioned forum where disputes between opposing litigants are formally adjudicated.

Question 6

Decision

Answer 6

Refers to the outcome or disposition of a case, to the holding in the case or to the entire set of reasons the court gives for its judgements.

Question 7

Defendant

Answer 7

Individual, corporation or other entity who defends a non-criminal lawsuit initiated by the plaintiff.

Question 8

Dissent

Answer 8

Refers (in context of a split decision on appeal) to the judgement of one or more justices in the minority. A disagreement.

Question 9

Facta

Answer 9

Written legal arguments to be presented on an appeal.

Question 10

Federal Superior Courts / Federal Courts

Answer 10

Federal Court, Federal Court of Appeal, the Tax Court of Canada and the Court Martial Appeal Court

Question 11

Headnote

Answer 11

Summary of reasons for judgement. located near the beginning of a reported version of the case.

Question 12

Inferior Courts

Answer 12

Provincial and territorial courts whose jurisdiction is limited to the less serious criminal matters, family and youth matters and small claims disputes’ the federal courts-martial, part of the military court system are also…

Question 13

Judgement

Answer 13

Final outcome or disposition of the dispute heard before the court, or, when the court provides reasons for its judgement, the entire set of reasons.

Question 14

Judicial Independence

Answer 14

Principle that judges should be free to make decisions based on the law and free from outside interference.

Question 15

Majority

Answer 15

Refers to the group of justices who form the … and whose decision becomes the decision of the court.

Question 16

Neutral Citation

Answer 16

A unique citation protocol, recognized internationally and in all Canadian courts, according to which courts number each of their judgements consecutively for the year in question, as well as the paragraphs within judgements.

Question 17

Obiter dicta / obiter dictum

Answer 17

Statements made by the court in its reasons for judgement that may be of interest, but that are inessential to the decision and therefore have no binding authority.

Question 18

Open Court Principle

Answer 18

Principle that judicial proceedings should be administered in public.

Question 19

Persuasive

Answer 19

Describes a precedent that a court is persuaded to give some weight to but is not bound to follow, because the precedent is from another jurisdiction or is otherwise not binding.

Question 20

Plaintiff

Answer 20

Individual, corporation or other entity who initiates a non-criminal lawsuit.

Question 21

Precedent

Answer 21

Court decisions that under the doctrine of stare decisis is binding on lower courts in the same jurisdiction.

Question 22

Provincial Superior Courts

Answer 22

Provincially constituted courts with inherent jurisdiction to hear all matters (unless taken away by legislation)’ two levels—a trial level and an appeal level; sometimes refers just to the trial level.

Question 23

Puisne

Answer 23

Term applied to describe judges who rank below another judge or judges on the same court—for example: the judges below the chief justice on an appeal court.

Question 24

Reference

Answer 24

Special case in which the executive branch of government refers a question of law to a court of appeal, usually a question concerning the constitutionality of a statute or court of action the government is considering.

Question 25

Reserve

Answer 25

Postpone rendering its decision, after a hearing has concluded, so the court can carefully prepare the reasons for its judgement.

Question 26

Respondent

Answer 26

Individual, corporation or other entity who won at trial and who is responding to the appellant on an appeal to a higher court.

Question 27

Section 96 Courts

Answer 27

Provincial superior courts, so called because their judges are federally appointed under section 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867.

Question 28

Style of Cause

Answer 28

The name of the case or title of the proceeding, consisting of the names of the parties to the dispute.

Question 29

Supreme Court of Canada

Answer 29

Canada’s highest court and final court of appeal

Question 30

Territorial Superior Courts

Answer 30

Federally constituted superior courts with jurisdiction in the territories.

Question 31

Unified Family Courts

Answer 31

Special divisions of the trial level of a provincial superior court with complete jurisdiction over family law matters, including matters that would otherwise be heard in a provincial inferior court.