Legal Foundations Unit

Legal Foundations Unit

• Common Law/Case Law: Judicial decisions create law over time; ensures consistency by relying on similar cases; allows for flexibility as laws evolve.

• Procedural Law: Governs legal processes (courts and police); enforces rights and duties, ensuring fairness in the justice system.

• Rule of Law: No one is above the law, regardless of status, ensuring equal treatment under the law for all.

• Code of Hammurabi: Earliest known codified laws (1755-1750 BCE); set a precedent for consistent laws within a jurisdiction.

• Magna Carta: Limited the power of the English crown; first written law asserting that the government is not above the law.

• Greek Law: Early Greek rules and regulations; influenced democratic practices like jury systems.

• Retribution: Punishment based on payback/vengeance.

• Restitution: Compensation for crime victims. Helped establish democratic values and protect the lower classes.

• Rehabilitation: Aims to treat offenders and train them to reenter society as law-abiding citizens, reducing recidivism (reoffending).

• Jurisdiction: Defines the scope of power/authority; determines which court or agency handles a case. Prevents overlapping authority.

• Adversarial System: Judge acts as a referee; defense and prosecution present opposing arguments. Common in criminal cases.

• Inquisitorial System: Judge plays a significant role, questioning parties; used in civil law cases, where parties prove likelihood rather than guilt.

Human Rights Unit

• Reasonable Limits Clause: Determines constitutionality of laws, allows removal of unconstitutional laws through the Oakes Test. Recognizes the need for limitations on rights to prevent misuse.

• Notwithstanding Clause: Allows legislatures to exclude certain Charter sections to create laws; frequently debated and potentially misused.

• Equality Rights: Section 15 of the Charter; guarantees freedom from discrimination to ensure a just and fair society.

• R v Morgentaler: Provided illegal abortions; abortion deemed a constitutional right.

• R v Keegstra: Teacher denied the Holocaust; freedom of speech doesn't protect hate speech.

• R v Big M Drug Mart: Operating on Sunday violated Lord's Day Act; Act deemed unconstitutional, protecting freedom of religion.

• Sauvé v Canada: Inmate challenged voting rights; inmates gained federal voting rights.

• Rodriguez v. B.C.: Challenged right to assisted suicide; paved the way for MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying) in Canada.

• R v Vriend: Fired from job due to homosexuality; homosexuality not legal discrimination in IRPA.

• The White Paper: 1969, aimed to assimilate Indigenous peoples; failed to recognize unique status of Indigenous populations.

• Immigration Act, 1976: Introduced a point system for immigration, prioritizing merit over ethnicity.

• CUPE Strike, 2022: Ford used notwithstanding clause to end strike; highlighted misuse of the notwithstanding clause.

Criminology and Criminal Procedures Unit

• Criminal Code of Canada: Formalizes criminal offences and punishments.

• Quasi-Criminal: Offences with significant penalties, but not considered crimes (no criminal record or prison).

• Actus reus & Mens rea: "Guilty act" and "guilty mind" required for criminal conviction.

• Circumstantial Evidence: Requires inferences for proof of guilt; less conclusive than direct evidence.

• Direct Evidence: Observational proof, without needing interpretation; more conclusive evidence.

• Due Process: Specific procedural steps for police and courts to ensure fair justice. Prevents miscarriages of justice.

• Burden of Proof: The crown must prove guilt (not the accused prove innocence.)

• Reasonable Doubt: When evidence is insufficient to declare guilt. Precludes conviction without certainty.

• Acquittal: If the Crown fails to meet the burden of proof, the accused is declared not guilty.

• Parole: Early release of inmates; requires adherence to laws and check-ins with officers.

• Probation: Conditional release with terms and conditions; a form of monitoring behaviour after committing a crime.

• Recidivism: Likelihood of reoffending. A key measure of a system's rehabilitation efforts and crime reduction.

Civil Law Unit

• Family Law: Cases related to spouses, children, common-law relationships.

• Property Law: Governs tangible and intellectual property. Protects owners.

• Estate Law: Distributes property after death; typically involving wills; ensures assets go to designated heirs.

• Labour Law: Governs employer-employee relationships and labor organizations.

• Contract Law: Agreements between individuals or companies to purchase or provide goods/services; ensures agreed-upon terms are met.

• Commercial Law: Regulates businesses, corporate contracts, and trade of goods/services; protects consumers.

• Negligence: Unintentional harm caused by carelessness.

• Duty of Care: Responsibility to avoid causing harm; a societal expectation.

• Standard of Care: Degree of caution expected from a reasonable person; varies based on profession.

• Liability: Responsibility for harm created.

• Act of God: Defense to negligence; extraordinary natural event caused the accident, not the person's negligence.

Explore the fundamental concepts of law in this quiz on Legal Foundations. Delve into the principles of Common Law, Procedural Law, the Rule of Law, and historical legal documents like the Code of Hammurabi and Magna Carta. Test your understanding of how these elements shape justice and governance.