Week 2: The legal context for practice Flashcards
System of rules and principles based on past judgement/rulings in cases (i.e. precedents)
English common law
English common law:
- Also called _____ ____
- No ____ book
- Primary objectives?
- In Canada, ______ law = Common Law System
Case law
rule
1° objective = consistency, predictable
public
Private law = ______ law in Canada, except where?
common
QC
What are the sources of common law?
Statutes
Case law (precedent)
Doctrine
Custom
Formal laws passed by government; are the most authoritative form of common law (i.e. override over sources of common law in Canada)
Statutes
Organize, from most authoritative to least, the sources of common law in Canada.
Statutes
Case law/precedent
doctrine
custom
Passed court decisions that help to form the basis of decisions that are made in court cases in the present
Case Law/precedent
Scholarly literature, written by law scholars and academics, they talk about different cases and what happens in other cases or speak to what kind of harm occured
Doctrine
Hardly ever used, least authoritative, only ever enacted if there are no laws on a situation, no past cases, or no doctrine/literature discussing the case
Custom law
If custom law must be enacted, what do judges look to?
Look to profession/trade and see what the common practices are to inform their decisions
Most commonly used form of common law
Case law
What is the private legal system that is used in QC?
French civil law
French civil law:
- based on _____ law
- comprehensive statement of _____
- developed from _______ writings from ______ experts, common sense and _____ principles
- Primary source of law in QC for _____ (private) cases
roman
rules
scholarly, legal, ethical
civil
For public law, what system does QC use?
English common law system
There are many sources of common law, but what do those using French civil law use?
Look at the civil code
Huge rulebook; the lawyers bible in QC
civil code
Since Canada has two law systems, it is termed?
bi-jural
What is at the top of Canada’s court system?
Supreme court
If a precedent is enacted at the supreme court level, this necessarily means that it will be enacted at the provincial level. (T or F?)
True
What are some laws and legislations that govern our practice in Ontario?
RHPA
Nurses Act
Documents which outline our scope and define what our duty of care is to the population we serve, and outlines are standard of care
RHPA
Nurses act
Legal obligation imposed on an individual to act or refrain from acting in a way such as to avoid causing harm to the person or property of another who might reasonably be affected and whose rights and well-being ought to be considered by the actor
professional duty of care
A nurse’s treatment of a patient will be judged by the standard of the reasonably competent nurse.
Standard of care
Defines what another nurse who is competent and prudent would do in a similar situation.
Standard of care
There are two definitions of civil law in Canada, what are they?
Private law system in QC and private law system
Deals with the relationships between individuals or private parties to settle private disputes
Private law
Rules for the relationship between the individual and society or for the roles of different governments
Public law
Rules for the relationship between the individual and society or for the roles of different governments.
Public law
Public law includes these law types.
Criminal, constitutional, administrative
Other than QC, the rest of Canada uses this system for both public and private law.
Common law
What are some constitutional laws that affect nursing care in Canada?
MAID, patient’s rights to have an abortion
Indicate whether civil or criminal law
A - Offences set out in the Criminal code or other Federal laws
B - includes contracts, property disputes, torts
C - State or crown investigates and prosecutes on the victim’s behalf
D - plaintiff vs. defendant
E - outcome often monetary award to address harm inflicted
F - Acts of intentional harm to individuals that are offences against society (Deals with)
G - most offences require proof beyond a reasonable doubt in order for an accused to be found guilty
A - Criminal (public) law B - Civil law (private) C - Criminal (public) law D - Civil law (private) E - Civil law (private) F - Criminal (public) law G - Criminal (public) law
In civil cases, ________ plays absolutely no role
government
Deals with acts of intentional harm, but are offences to us all
criminal law (public)
Crown or state represents the plaintiff, defendant needs a lawyer against the crown
criminal law (public)
Innocent until proven guilty fits here
criminal law (public)
For the following examples, describe whether it is civil or criminal:
1 - An RN moves a wet floor sign out of the way so that they can move a piece of equipment down the hall. They are busy and forget to put it back. A patient slips on the wet floor and breaks their hip.
2 - an RN intentionally turns off a patient’s ventilator without consent from the family, killing the patient
1 - civil
2 - criminal
Civil wrong committed by one person against another such as to cause some injury or damage to either person or property
Tort
By definition, a tort is not ______.
criminal
What are the types of torts?
Intentional - assault or battery
non-intentional - negligence
