Roots and Sources of Law

Roots of Law

• Hammurabi's Code (1792-1750 BCE) was a set of laws from Babylon, reflecting a patriarchal society, with punishments for robbery, property destruction, and issues related to marriage, and considered property of men.
• Mosaic Law, a biblical set of 10 commandments, focused on deliberate actions, not accidental harm.
• Greek law was a precursor to democracy, extending the right of opinion to citizens excluding women, children, and slaves.
• Roman law emphasized recorded laws and fair justice avoiding bias in the judicial system.
• Justinian Code compiled 1600 Roman laws to create a legal code that influenced many European laws.
• Napoleonic Code influenced French civil law, regulating property, contracts, and family matters.

Sources of Law in Canada

• Constitutional law is the supreme law, overriding statute and common law.
• Statute laws are passed by elected representatives in parliament or legislatures.
• Common law comes from court decisions, creating precedence for future cases.

Constitutional Law

• It defines the structure of the federal government, dividing powers between federal and provincial governments.
• It establishes limits to governmental power, outlining basic laws, principles, and standards for other laws to follow.

Statute Law

• Passed by elected representatives in parliament or provincial legislatures.
• Often codifies common law decisions.
• Overrides common law if a conflict exists.

Common Law

• Also known as case law, evolving from court decisions on previous cases.
• Lawyers use favorable precedents to argue outcomes.
• The precedent may not always apply as a case may be different.
• Judges distinguish cases when previous decisions don't fully apply.

Retribution vs. Restitution

• Retribution: Justice based on punishment (eye for an eye).
• Restitution: Payment by the offender to the victim for damages caused.

Three Levels of Government in Canada

• Executive: The president, their advisors, and various departments in the federal government.
• Legislative: The House of Commons and Senate create laws, deal with foreign affairs, wars, taxing and spending policies.
• Judiciary: The Court system interprets and applies the law, ensuring it aligns with the constitution.

Categories of Law

• International Law (Int'l): Governs relationships between countries, including treaties, extraditions, trade agreements, and dispute resolution.
• Domestic Law: Deals with laws within a country, including common law and statute law.
• Procedural Law: Outlines the methods for implementing substantive law, like procedures for conducting trials.
• Substantive Law: Defines citizens' rights, responsibilities, the obligations of the levels of government and deals with property rights.
• Public Law: Relates to law governing relationships between government and citizens and includes administrative, criminal, and constitutional law aspects.
• Private Law: Also called civil law, governing interactions between individuals, organizations, and the government (non criminal issues), including areas such as contracts, family law, wills, trusts, property, and employment.

Tort Law

• Deals with harm caused by negligent or reckless actions.
• Demands compensation for harm, pain, and financial losses.

Contract Law

• Deals with agreements to buy and sell products and services.

Family Law

• Deals with marriage, separation, child custody, and support.

Wills and Estates

• Deals with laws surrounding death, estate division, and wills.

Property Law

• Deals with ownership, transfer, and rights relating to property.

Employment Law

• Deals with employer/employee relationships.

Criminal Law

• Sets out prohibited behaviors and punishments for behaviors that cause harm to others and society.

Mens Rea (Criminal Intent)

• General intent: committing a wrongful act with no ulterior purpose.
• Specific intent: committing one wrongful act to accomplish another.
• Knowledge: involves awareness of facts (relevant to establishing criminal intent).
• Criminal negligence: disregard for others' lives and safety potentially causing harm.
• Recklessness: acting in a way that disregards a foreseeable risk.
• Willful blindness: consciously choosing to ignore possible consequences.

Types of Offences

• Summary Conviction Offences: Minor crimes, dealt with quickly and simply.
• Indictable Offences: Serious crimes which are dealt with more slowly and extensively by the judge and/or jury system.
• Hybrid Offences: Offences that can be dealt with summarily or through an indictable procedure, which depends on the Crown's decision.

Criminal Trial Participants

• Judge: Oversees the courtroom and makes decisions about the case and procedures.
• Crown Attorney: Represents the government and presnts the case against the accused.
• Defence Counsel: Represents the accused and presents a defense.
• Court Clerk: Assists the judge with administrative tasks.
• Court Reporter: Records courtroom proceedings.
• Court Security Officer: Maintains security in the courtroom.
• Witnesses: Testify under oath about the case.
• Jury: Decides guilt or innocence in cases where there is no jury the judge makes this decision.

Police Involvement in Crime Investigation

• Patrol officers are often first at the scene.
• Scene-of-crime officers secure the scene and preserve evidence.
• Criminal Identification Officers collect evidence and make it clear.
• Specialists such as homicide and robbery investigators are involved to determine the circumstances of the crime.

Culpable vs. Non-Culpable Homicide

• Culpable: when the accused is responsible for causing someone's death.
• Non-Culpable: when the accused is not responsible for someone's death (i.e. by accident).

Crime Scene Procedures

• Police at a scene will call medical personnel and reinforcements.
• The scene of the crime is secured with yellow tape.
• Evidence is collected and preserved.

Defences for a Crime

• Denial of the crime.
• Justification or excuse for the actions (self defence, provocation).

Influences on Canadian Law

• Canadian law draws ideas from Roman, English, French, and Indigenous legal traditions.

Trial by Ordeal

• An archaic judicial method where guilt/innocence were determined by an ordeal that involved tests that individuals underwent, meant to test their innocence/guilt.

Early British Law

• Roman law originally established legal foundations.
• British laws eventually superseded them.

Trial by Oath Helping

• A method that involves others swearing oaths to the innocence of the accused.

Trial by Combat

• Resolving disputes through duels to determine innocence/guilt.

Offences against Property

• Theft: taking property without permission.
• Robbery: theft using force or violence.
• Breaking and Entering: entering a building without permission to commit an offence.
• Mischief: damaging property intentionally.
• Fraud: misleading someone to cause them to lose property.
• Prostitution: illegal provision of sexual services for money.
• Gambling: gambling that is illegal under Canadian law.

Criminal Defences

• Provocation: acting in a way that causes others to lose self control.
• Self-defence: defending oneself from harm.
• Necessity: there was no other way to behave.
• Mental disorder: The mental/emotional state at the time of the crime affected the person's ability to understand the behaviour being conducted. This is not a valid defence in every case.
• Mistake in law or fact: there was a genuine mistake about the facts/laws surrounding the crime.

Sources of Evidence

• Direct evidence: witnessed events.
• Circumstantial evidence: evidence relating to another fact that suggests the guilt or innocence of the accused.

Justice

• Fairness and equality within the justice system.
• Transparency in legal process.
• Accountability for wrongdoings.

Rules vs. Laws

• "Rules" that aren't enforceable but are guidance by authority for example the rules of parliament are not in the same category as the Criminal code/laws.
• Laws are enacted, and enforceable.

Canadian Constitution

• It describes the governing rules/structure of the country.
• The Constitution was adopted on April 17, 1982.
• Sets out the rights and freedoms of individuals.
• Establishes the different levels of government.
• Describes the powers and limits.
• Legal, moral, and social entitlements.
• Rights to live your life without governmental interference.
• Guarantees certain freedoms.

Trial by Oath Helping

• A method involving bystanders swearing oaths of the accused's innocence.

Trial by Combat

• Resolving disputes through duels, presuming that God or a higher power favoured the innocent party.

Offences against Property

• Theft (permanent or temporary taking without permission).
• Robbery (theft with violence or threat).
• Breaking and Entering
• Mischief (damaging property).
• Fraud (misleading someone).
• Prostitution.
• Gambling

Defences Against the Person

• Infanticide: a mother killing her newborn under specific circumstances (biological mother, child under 12 months old, mental state/recovery related issues from childbirth).
• Manslaughter: unlawfully killing a person without malice aforethought.
• Assault (different levels of seriousness)

Sexual Assault

• Level 1: Non-violent touching.
• Level 2: Violence, weapon or threat.
• Level 3: Aggravated assault.

Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle

• Engaging in conduct that demonstrates an evident disregard for the safety of others while operating a vehicle.

Failure to Stop at the Scene of an Accident

• Leaving an accident scene.
• Hiding evidence.

Impaired Driving

• Driving under the influence.
• Proof of impairment (breathalyzer, behaviour).

Justification

• Circumstances where an apparently unlawful act is justified or excused by law.

Explore the foundations of legal systems through history, starting from Hammurabi's Code to modern Canadian law. This quiz covers various laws like Mosaic Law, Roman law, and the influence of codes like the Napoleonic Code and Justinian Code. Test your knowledge of legal principles and their evolution.