Legal Systems Quiz

Types of Law

• Statute law: laws passed by the government
• Tort law: holds persons or private organizations responsible for damage caused to another person due to accidental or deliberate actions

Branches of Government

• Executive branch: administrative branch responsible for carrying out the government's plans and policies, consists of the prime minister (or premier), the Cabinet, and the public or civil service
• Legislative branch: has the powers to make, change, and repeal laws, consists of the House of Commons and Senate at the federal level, and the Legislative Assembly at the provincial and territorial level
• Judiciary: branch of law made up of justices, or judges, who adjudicate disputes, interpret the law, and decide on punishments in Canada's court system

Latin Phrases

• Ultra vires: beyond the power, refers to areas that are beyond the power or jurisdiction of a government
• Intra vires: within the power, refers to the power a government has to pass laws within its own jurisdiction

Systems of Government

• Unitary system: a system of government where power is centralized in one level of government
• Federal system: a system of government where responsibility for governing is divided between two levels of government: the central government and the provincial government

Lawmaking

• Bill: a proposed law
• Government bill: a bill proposed by a Cabinet minister
• Private member bill: a bill proposed by a Member of Parliament (MP) or Member of the Legislative Assembly (MILA) who is not in the Cabinet

Punishment

• Retribution: punishing an offender for revenge, or to satisfy the public that the offender has paid for the crime
• Restitution: punishment that requires the offender to pay the victim or society back for the harm or loss caused by the crime

Historical Legal Codes

• Justinian's Code: the clarification and organization of Roman law commissioned by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527-565 AD)
• Napoleonic Code: a code of law in France commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804

Trial Procedures

• Trial by ordeal: requiring the accused to undergo torture to determine guilt or innocence
• Trial by oath: requiring friends of the accused to swear on the Bible that he or she is innocent
• Trial by combat: determining guilt or innocence by having the parties involved in a dispute fight a duel
• Adversarial system: the judicial process whereby evidence is presented by two opposing parties to an impartial judge or jury

Judicial Concepts

• Stare decisis: a Latin phrase meaning to "stand by the decision," i.e., abide by the decisions already made
• Rule of precedent: applying a previous decision to a case that has similar circumstances
• Habeas corpus: a court order designed to prevent unlawful arrest by ensuring that anyone detained is brought before a court within a reasonable amount of time

Other Legal Concepts

• Quebec civil code: the system of law used in Quebec for resolving private matters, based on the French Civil Code
• Bylaw: laws that deal with local issues and are passed by municipal governments
• Constitutional law: the body of public law set out in the Constitution that deals with the distribution and exercise of the powers of government and establishes paramount legal principles and standards
• Contract law: the branch of civil law that provides rules regarding agreements between people and businesses when they purchase or provide goods and services
• Criminal law: a category of public law that prohibits and punishes behavior that injures people, property, and society as a whole
• English common law: law developed in English courts, relies on case law and is common to all people
• Estate law: the branch of civil law that deals with the division and distribution of property after death
• Family law: the branch of civil law that deals with various aspects of family life
• International law: laws that govern the conduct of independent nations in their relationships with one another

Test your knowledge of legal systems with this quiz covering topics such as retribution, restitution, Justinian's Code, and the Napoleonic Code.