Legal Foundations Unit Quiz

Legal Foundations Unit

• Common Law is law made by judicial decisions over time; ensures consistency as judges must rule based on similar cases, allowing for flexibility as laws change.
• Procedural Law governs the processes of law (courts and police), ensuring fair treatment for all.
• The Code of Hammurabi was an early Babylonian legal text (1755-1750 BC), establishing codified laws.
• Magna Carta (Greater Charter) outlined limitations on the King's power and is considered the first constitution. It established that even the King is not above the law.
• Retribution is punishment based on payback or vengeance; Restitution is compensation for victims.
• Jurisdiction defines the scope of authority of different courts and agencies.
• An adversarial system (common in criminal cases) involves opposing lawyers presenting their cases to a judge who acts as a referee.
• An inquisitorial system (common in civil cases) is where the judge actively questions the parties to build the case.
• The rule of law is the principle that no one is above or below the law.

Human Rights Unit

• R v Morgentaler: Court case on abortion services, established a constitutional right.
• Sauvé v Canada: Inmate's right to vote case.
• The White Paper was a 1969 proposal to eliminate the Indian Act.
• R v Vriend: Established that homophobia is illegal discrimination.
• Greek law provided examples of democratic practices like juries, influential in modern systems.
• Aboriginal law is restorative, focusing on restoring the community from wrong.
• French law is codified, and justice is carried out through the inquisitorial method; present in Ontario/Quebec.
• British Common Law uses precedent from judges' decisions for future rulings and relies on the adversarial method in court.

Criminology and Criminal Procedures Unit

• Circumstantial Evidence: Requires further inferences to prove guilt; less conclusive than direct evidence.
• Direct Evidence: Explicit information with no further need for inference; strong evidence for proving guilt.
• Burden of Proof: The Crown's responsibility to prove guilt in a criminal case.
• Parole is early release from prison, monitored by a parole officer, aiming at reintegration.
• Recidivism is the likelihood of reoffending; is a determining factor in sentencing.
• Criminal Code of Canada defines criminal offenses and punishments, accessible to all citizens.
• Quasi-criminal offences are offenses with substantial penalties that aren't considered strictly criminal (e.g., traffic violations).

Civil Law Unit

• Negligence: Unintentional torts (civil wrongs) caused by carelessness.
• Contract Law: Govern agreements between parties.
• Commercial Law: Applies to companies, business contracts, consumer/public goods/services.
• Duty of Care: Responsibility to consider risks to others when acting.
• Act of God: Defense to negligence if disaster is beyond control.
• Liability: Responsibility for actions or omissions that lead to harm to another person.
• Family Law: Cases involving marriages, divorce, child custody, etc.
• Property Law: Govern intellectual/physical assets; protects property holders.
• Estate Law: Procedures/distribution of wealth after death.
• Due Process: Precise legal/judicial process ensuring fairness.
• Reasonable Doubt is the principle that the courts must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt the accused committed the crime in question.

Oakes Test

• A test examining the constitutionality of laws that infringe on rights.
• There should be a substantial objective for the law to address the issue and the infringement must be reasonable, which means to be reasonably effective.
• The law's impacts on rights must be proportionate to the benefit provided by the law.

Summary Offenses, Indictable Offenses, and Hybrid Offenses

• Some crimes are more serious/severe (Indictable)
• Some crimes have less serious punishments (Summary)
• Some crimes are considered both by nature and by court's decision (Hybrid)

Purposes of Sentencing

• Deter offender from reoffending, rehabilitate, separate from general society, repairing harm.

Factors of Sentencing

• Criminal's nature, age, family, criminal history, mitigating or aggravating circumstances.

Types of Liability

• Product (manufacturers), occupier (owners of property), vicarious (responsibilities of one for another), strict (automatically liable).

Defences Against Unintentional/Intentional Torts

• Legal defenses to claims involving negligence or intentional wrongdoing
• Consent, self-defense, defense of others, or property, legal authority.

Adversarial and Inquisitorial Systems

• Adversarial: Opposing sides present their case, judge acts as a referee.
• Inquisitorial: Active questioning by the judge to determine the facts, more involved in developing the case.

Public Law

• Laws relating to the government (e.g. Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law)

The Legislative Process

• The steps in creating and passing laws (e.g. first, second, third reading, committee stage).

Aboriginal Law

• A system of law based on the concept of restoring community from wrongdoing
• seen today in how our system addresses restitution and rehabilitation .

Specific Examples (from supplemental info):

• R v Keegstra, R v Big M Drug Mart and R v Vriend are cases discussing freedom of speech, religious rights and discrimination, respectively.

Test your knowledge on the fundamental concepts of legal systems. This quiz covers key elements such as Common Law, the Code of Hammurabi, and the principles behind retribution and restitution. Assess your understanding of procedural law and the role of jurisdiction in the legal framework.