Chapter 10 - Law and Justice

• Societies utilize laws to implement their concepts of justice.

Jurisprudential Approach

• A methodical system resembling science, seeks resolutions for legal inquiries.
• Justice is unbiased, showing no preference.
• Formal collection of regulations regarding legal interpretation.
• Highlights lifestyle decisions that may lead to legal issues.
• Law mirrors societal structure, affecting human interactions and formal justice.

Custom vs Convention vs Law

• Custom: Actions based on convenience, such as opening a door for someone.
• Convention: Informal regulations based on commitment, like covering your mouth when coughing.
• Externally mandated practices ensuring compliance, such as punishments for assault.

Structural Functional Perspective on Law

• Promotes unity via norms.
• Balances conflicting interests to maintain harmony.

Conflict Perspective on Law

• Serves higher powers, worsening inequality.

Symbolic Interaction Perspective on Law

• Attaches meanings to actions under the law, shaped by society.

Post Structuralist Perspective

• Law perpetuates inequalities related to gender, race, and class.
• Judges are viewed as preserving elitist politics.
• Analysis of legal language and practices reveals the law's role in perpetuating inequality.
• Laws and their enforcement protect the interests of economically powerful groups.

Feminist Perspective

• Law is impartial in theory, but in practice it perpetuates inequalities.
• Law reflects the dominant perspective in society, largely written by men

Neo-liberalism

• Aims to curtail government intervention in people's life.
• Analyzing social injustice is a key component of legal justice.
• Individuals are influenced by their social system which contributes to their life choices.

Court System Structure

• Provincial Courts deal with general criminal and civil cases (not criminal).
• Court of Appeal hears appeals from provincial courts.
• Federal Court resolves disputes involving the federal government and issues under federal jurisdiction: citizenship, immigration, etc.
• Quasi-Judicial Tribunals handle specialized issues like human rights and occupational safety.
• The Supreme Court is Canada's highest court, with its decisions binding on all others.

Legal Pluralism

• Recognizes the hierarchical decision-making process.
• Identifies inconsistencies in lived experiences within the legal system.
• Studies unofficial means of dispute resolution, including customs and indigenous laws.

Categories of Law

• Federal government determines what is considered criminal through the Criminal Code of Canada.
• Society, via the government, determines what is harmful and utilizes sanctions.
• Civil law encompasses non-criminal cases: divorce and inheritance.
• Certain cases may have both criminal and civil aspects, like assault being both a criminal charge and a civil suit for loss of wages.

Lawyers in Criminal Court

• A Crown Prosecutor must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt which means moral or honest certainty.
• Compared to civil cases where just a lesser balance of probabilties is necessary.
• A Defense Lawyer defends the accused.

Criminal Cases

• Every crime consists of a physical (actus reus) and mental component (mens rea).
• Actus Reus is the act itself, consequences, and circumstances.
• Mens Rea is the necessary state of mind or intent to commit the act.
• Mens Rea can also relate to recklessness and a disregard for harmful outcomes.
• No crime is committed if either component is absent.

Foundations of Canadian Law

• Includes The Constitution defining the limits of powers exercised at government levels.
• Provinces have some jurisdiction over issues such as property rights, while the federal government has power over criminal law.
• Encompasses Indigenous rights and treaties between governments and Indigenous nations.
• Includes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• Law can be created by new legislation, or new government bills.
• Government may cover unforeseen events or amend current ones.
• This makes laws more accessible.
• Common law includes past judicial rulings consistently applied (case law).
• Case law includes record of previous applications of a case.

Legal Positivism

• Views the law as being created and written by the government (statute law).
• Interpreted by judges (similar to common law).
• Maintains a link between law and morality, defining law based on ethical standards.

Summary of the Law

• Law emerges from Parliament that is defined by new legislation. Judges interpret the law and use it in cases.
• Natural law exists universally based on morals.