Questions - Chapter 4 Section 1 - The Canadian Legal System Flashcards
What area of law does Criminal Law address?
Criminal law deals with the wrongs against society.
How does Criminal Law deal with violators?
Violators are prosecuted in the criminal courts by a prosecuting council, the representative of authority. The penalties for violation of society’s laws are generally limited to fines, imprisonment, or probation.
What area of law does Civil Law or Common law address?
Civil law is concerned with settling disputes between individuals or other legal entities in matters not involving a criminal act.
What’s the goal of Civil Law?
The goal in any Civil action is to seek compensation for the amount of the financial loss or damage suffered by the wronged party.
What are the two branches of Civil law?
1) The Civil Code (Quebec)
2) Civil Law (Common Law Provinces)
What is Statute Law?
Statute law is written law and is derived from Bills introduced into parliament and provincial legislative assemblies to deal with specific needs.
How does Statute Law affect Civil Law or Common Law?
Government statutes can impose civil liability. Many statutes are only concerned with matters of civil liability.
Identify and explain using examples the three elements of a tort, or establish negligence.
1) Legal Duty Owed
- The defendant owed the plaintiff a legal duty.
2) Duty Breached
- The legal duty owed was breached as a result of the defendant’s negligence.
3) The plaintiff suffered damages as a proximate result of the defendant’s negligence.
- The law holds only the responsible party for the proximate result of their actions. For example, Lily slipped on ice in front of the grocery store and then while walking to the store for first aid a car hits her and she then suffers severe back injuries.
Define “negligence”.
Negligence is the equivalent of carelessness.
The law generally holds innocent until proven guilty. State and briefly explain three exceptions to this risk.
1) Liability in Statute
- Statutes created by Provincial and Federal governments impose strict liability. ie. Highway Traffic Acts - vehicle accidents involving pedestrians.
2) Res Ipsa Loquitur
- “The thing speaks for itself”, accidents that cannot be accounted for without negligence from the defendant.
3) Strict Liability
- Situations in which harm to others would result should a mishap occur. ie. exposing one’s employees to injury or disease.
Identify the four kinds of losses that might be insured by Liability policies.
1) Bodily injury, including sickness, disease and death.
2) Personal injury such as mental anguish, shock, and humiliation.
3) Damage to property, including its loss of use.
4) Direct financial loss.
What’s meant by coverage provided for third party claims only?
Liability policies only indemnify the insured for payments to others for which the insured is legally liable. A third party is one who is not a party to the agreement or to a transaction but who may have rights.
Explain the following terms:
a) Compensatory Damage
b) Special Damage
c) General Damages
a) Damages paid by liability policies are those awarded as compensation for the amount of the third party’s financial loss.
b) Are intended to reimburse the plaintiff for out of pocket expenses such as medical and hospital bills.
c) These are damages which cannot be quantified with precision in monetary terms but reflect an amount the court believes to be fair. ie. pain and suffering.
