Civil Law: Resolving Civil Disputes & Negligence

Civil Law -​ Settles controversies between individuals and/or parties -​ Person v Person, Person v Party, Party v Party -​ Main purpose is to compensate victims -​ Only the victim (plaintiff) can bring the case to court -​ Examples of cases: injuries from one person, damage to propert...

Civil Law -​ Settles controversies between individuals and/or parties -​ Person v Person, Person v Party, Party v Party -​ Main purpose is to compensate victims -​ Only the victim (plaintiff) can bring the case to court -​ Examples of cases: injuries from one person, damage to property or reputation, unpaid debts, tort actions (wrongdoing) Remedy -​ A procedure in which the people at fault pay for the damage they have caused - e.g. injunctions restitution, punishment, and deterrence -​ When a person can prove that they suffered injury and/or loss due to the other person’s actions, then they will be rewarded a remedy ​ Compensation ○​ Putting the person back in a state they were before the incident, sometimes even better ○​ The most important purpose of civil law ​ Canada’s Justice System ○​ Criminal and Civil charges happen independently in separate courts ​ Small Claims Courts ○​ Aka the people’s court ○​ Money and property disputes - no jury or lawyers here ○​ Claims range between $3000-$25000 ​ Provincial Supreme Court ○​ Above small claims ○​ Usually represented by lawyers ○​ Judge or jury - 6 jury members & reaches a decision by majority vote ​ Court of Appeal ○​ Hearing appeals from lower courts ○​ Tried by min of 3 max of 7 judges ○​ Depending on the case, decision is either majority or unanimous ○​ After the decision, judges will state their reasoning for their vote ​ Federal Court of Canada ○​ Federal Government, government employees, federal income taxes, patents, copyrights and trademarks ○​ They have their own Appeal Division ​ Supreme Court of Canada ○​ Highest court in the country ○​ Only hears cases from the Federal Court and the province’s Court of Appeal Lesson 2- Resolving Civil Disputes ​ Plaintiff: The one who is suing ​ Defendant: The one who is being sued ​ Litigation: Process of suing ​ Litigant: The partie(s) suing ​ Minor: Anyone under the age of 18 ​ Litigation Guardian: A legal guardian acting on behalf of a minor ​ Limitation Period: The amount of time from the case in which the action must be made (6 months) ​ Balance of Probabilities: The burden of proof is on the plaintiff -​ They must prove the series of events happened in the way that they claim ○​ Defendant will try to prove that the Plaintiff’s version of the story was wrong AND their version of the story is correct  ○​ Judge or jury will decide which story is more credible ​ Filing & Serving a Claim ○​ 1) Before filing a lawsuit, one must find a cause of action ○​ 2) After finding a cause of action, you will figure out which court the trial will take place (depending on how much money in involved) ​ Filing A Claim in Small Courts ○​ The following information must be submitted by hand the court of choice: ​ The Plaintiff’s full name and address ​ The Defendant’s full name and address ​ The amount of money being claimed ​ A brief summary of the reason for the claims ○​ Court fees varies on the amount being claimed ○​ The fee is added by the court to the claim ○​ Once a defendant receives a claim they have two options: ​ 1) Pay the amount claimed to the court ​ 2) Prepare a defence of why they shouldn’t pay the amount claimed (*defence must be prepared within 10-30 days within receiving the claim*) ○​ Payment into Court ​ IF the defence feels they should only have to pay a part of the claim, they could pay the amount they think is reasonable to the small claims office ​ THEN the plaintiff decides whether to take the amount provided OR to pursue a court case to obtain the full amount ○​ A Counterclaim ​ When the defendant sues the plaintiff and claims an amount to compensate for their own issues ​ MUST relate to the original issue ○​ Third Party Claim ​ Defendant can shift part or all of the blame to a third party ​ If the defendant wanted to split claim with the third party ○​ Default Judgement ​ If the defendant does not reply to the claim within 10-30 days of the claim, the plaintiff automatically wins the case and gets the full amount claimed ○​ Out of Court Settlement ​ Plaintiff and Defendant can decide to settle out of court at any time ​ The plaintiff must decide to risk not getting any money and go to court to try and receive the full claim OR to settle for a smaller claim ​ Filing a Claim in Higher Court ○​ A claim in higher court is called a statement of claim ○​ The defence is known as as the statement of defence ○​ Defendant and Plaintiff send documents back and forth for a long time to try and settle the case before court ○​ Examination of Discovery ​ Ask/answer session between Litigants and their lawyers ​ Purpose to eliminate any surprises in court ​ Both parties must disclose all relevant documents ​ Both questions parties ask are oath (sworn to be true) ​ The Trial ○​ If no settlement is reached, it’s time for court! ○​ Judge or jury (6 members) but a jury is uncommon in a civil case ○​ Both parties have an opportunity to call witnesses, present facts, and make statements themselves (Plaintiff goes first)  ○​ After the litigants have presented their information and statements, the judge (or jury) will make a final verdict ○​ ** Look at chart on slide 19 ** ​ The 5 Damages ○​ 1) General Damages: needs to be precisely calculated and require court judgement - has to fair to both sides (suffering, care, income) ○​ 2) Special Damages: debt to the plaintiff had leading up to the trial ○​ 3) Punitive Damages: occur when the court wants to penalize the defendant for negligent behaviour - intentional torts ○​ 4) Aggravated Damages: awarded when a defendant’s behaviour harms the plaintiff ○​ 5) Nominal Damages: result in a very small total ($1-100) ​ Remedies ○​ Injunctions ​ Non cash compensation award where a certain condition is met ○​ Costs ​ The defendant pays the court and legal fees of the other party ​ The contingency fee system allows those who cannot afford legal fees to accelerate legal action by paying a lawyer a percentage of the compensation if they win - DOES NOT EXIST IN ONTARIO ○​ Garnishment ​ Required when a court order is needed to oblige a third party to make a payment into court towards the losing defendant ○​ Seizing Assets ​ Required when a debtor cannot settle a payment ○​ Examination of a Debtor ​ Debtors will be questioned in court to determine assets, income, other debts, etc. ○​ ADR: Review the three types!! ​ Meditation ​ Arbitration ​ Negotiation Lesson 3- Negligence & Other Torts ​ Tort ○​ A “wrong” committed either intentionally or unintentionally ○​ Allows people to sue for damages inflicted in a court of civil law ○​ E.g. personal property, pets, involvement in sports, personal freedom/reputation ○​ Tort of negligence is the most important area of tort law ​ Negligence ○​ Action is unintentional ○​ Unplanned ○​ A injury is inflicted ○​ Carelessly injuring a person or property must result in compensation for that damage ​ Intentional Tort ○​ When one deliberately inflicts harm or injury to another person ○​ They have intent and have foreseeability ○​ Intent is the true purpose of an act ○​ Foreseeability is the ability to predict what could result in an action caused by the indicator ​ Duty of Care ○​ Plaintiff must prove the defendant owed a duty of care ○​ Duty of care is the equivalent to when legal duty is placed upon you to meet expectations  ○​ A breach of duty of care is determined when the defendant was unable to meet the duty of care of a “reasonable person” ​ The Reasonable Person ○​ The ideal representation of someone that makes the decisions endorsed by the court ​ No physical or mental developmental disorders ​ Thoughtful and caring in most situations ​ Minor & Duty of Care ○​ Children are not considered a reasonable person ○​ Courts will make case by case decisions if a minor has liability ○​ Minor engaging in adult activities will hold a similar duty of care ​ Causation ○​ Plaintiff must prove the Defendant is responsible for their harm ○​ Direct connection between the Defendant’s negligence and the Plaintiff’s claim ​ Burden of Proof ○​ This is on the Plaintiff they must provide the negligence components required ​ Defences for Negligence ○​ Negligence was not present ○​ Defendant did not owe Plaintiff any duty of care ○​ Plaintiff was also negligent ○​ Plaintiff assumed risk voluntarily ​ Contributory Negligence ○​ If both parties are negligent damages are divided amongst both of them ○​ Burden of proof is on the Defendant to prove the Plaintiff’s contributory negligence ​ Voluntary Risk of Assumption ○​ Only works in the defendant’s favour when they can prove that the Plaintiff knew the risk of the situation/actions and made the decision to assume risk ​ Inevitable Accident ○​ Harm or loss could be the outcome of an unavoidable situation regardless of the precautions a person could have taken Lesson 4- Civil Chapters ​ Occupier Liability ○​ When a person owns a property and is responsible for the property to be safe who enter it ○​ Three types of people who could enter a property ​ Invitees ​ Is owed the highest standard of care ​ E.g. Students, Store Customers, Delivery people, Service coming to repairs ​ Licensees ​ A person who enters the property with the occupiers permission ​ E.g. a friend who has been asked for dinner ​ Trespassers ​ Entering a property who isn’t yours without any permission or legal right to be there ​ When occupiers are aware of trespassers, they must use reasonable standard of care ​ Special duty- to those who have a pool or jungle gym ​ Occupier’s Liability Act ○​ Invitees and Licensees are similar which makes it hard to decide who is who  ○​ Decision was made to treat them both equally and have both receive the same duty of care ​ Commercial & Social Host Invitees ○​ Restaurant and bar owners now have a specific duty of care to any customers who are intoxicated ○​ Trying to prevent and harm or injury happening to a third party - e.g. drunk driving ​ Motor Vehicle Negligence ○​ This will often lead to both criminal and civil actions ○​ Violating any traffic acts results in driver negligence ○​ If both parties are at fault for an accident, liability will be split between them ​ Liability for Passengers ○​ A driver is liable for its passengers ○​ IF a passenger gets into a car knowing the driver is intoxicated - the driver uses the voluntary assumption ○​ IF a passenger gets into a car not knowing the driver is intoxicated- it is not a voluntary assumption ○​ Drivers must ensures their passengers are wearing a seatbelt ​ Vicarious Liability ○​ Employers are personally liable for torts committed by their employees during work hours ​ Professional Negligence ○​ The more professional and specialized the person is, the higher standard of care the law and society expects ○​ Doctor’s duty of care to the patient is called medical negligence ​ Patients must be made aware of all risks associated with any procedure being done ​ Medical battery is when a patient is treated with no consent ​ Assault & Battery ○​ In tort law, assault is when a victim has a fear of bodily harm may occur ○​ Battery is the most common form of trespass to another person which involves intentional touching ​ Nuisance ○​ Involves one person’s unreasonable use of land that interferes with the enjoyment and use of adjoining land by other persons and/or community ​ Intentional or unintentional ​ Defences for Trespass ○​ Consent ​ The plaintiff willingly consented to the action ○​ Self-defence ​ Force cannot be excessive ​ Reasonable and necessary to prevent personal injury ○​ Defence of others or property ​ A third party can come to the aid of a person if it is reasonable to assume that the person is in some degree of immediate danger ​ Property owners may use reasonable force to eject intruders ○​ Legal authority ​ E.g. police have the right to detain individuals in the course of a valid arrest ○​ Necessity ​ If entering the property was strictly necessary ​ Defamation of Character ○​ Defamation: an unjustified or untrue attack on a person’s reputation  ​ Intentional or unintentional, MUST lower the person’s reputation ○​ Slander: defamation through spoken words, sounds, physical gestures, or facial expressions ○​ Libel: more permanent visible or audible form than slander, such as radio ​ Defences for Defamation ○​ True and justified ○​ Absolute privilege ○​ Qualified privilege ○​ Fair comment ​ Motor vehicle Insurance ○​ Everyone is legally required to purchase motor vehicle liability insurance ○​ When a claim is being made, the three parties involved are: the person who caused the accident, the insurance company, and the victim who claims damages