Canada’s Court System

Provincial Courts- Criminal Division What happens here? Arraignments Preliminary hearings Less serious criminal trials

Arraignments The charges are read aloud and the accused enters a plea Arraignments for all criminal trials are done here

Preliminary Hearings Prelim hearings are done for the more serious indictable offences The Crown presents some or all of it’s evidence against the accused to a judge at a prelim hearing The judge determines if there is enough evidence to go to trial If not, charges will be dismissed

Criminal Trials Provincial Courts try summary conviction offences as well as the least serious indictable offences

The Judges The judges in provincial court are appointed by the provincial governments A judge alone hears summary convictions offences For the (less serious) indictable offences heard in this court, the accused may chose between a judge or a jury

Provincial Superior Court- Appeals and Trials What happens here? The most serious criminal offence trials are tried here Appeals from the lower Provincial Courts

Superior Court Trials This court hears and tries the most serious (indictable) offences Ie murder, sexual assault, armed robbery The Terpstra case from Wingham was tried in Goderich’s Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Superior Court Appeals This court is the first court of appeal for criminal cases coming from the Provincial Courts ie if you are found guilty of assault, you may appeal the conviction to this court

Precedent The Provincial Superior Courts set provincial precedent- decisions made must be followed by other court judges in that province Ie A St. Catherine’s Provincial Superior Court may strike down the marijuana laws, so all courts would have to abide by this decision

Judges in Superior Court Judges are appointed by the federal government

Provincial Court of Appeal This is the highest court and final court of appeal in the province. Many appeals stop here. What happens here?

Provincial Court of Appeal This court hears appeals from the Provincial Superior Courts Ie if the Ontario government or Health Canada decide to appeal the St. Catherine’s Superior Court ruling on the marijuana laws, this court would hear the appeal.

Precedent Sets provincial precedent

The Judges The judges in this court are appointed by the federal government Has three to five judges Decisions do not have to be unanimous

Federal Courts The Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal hears disputes involving the federal government For example issues related to immigration, copyright. Decisions from the Federal Court of Appeal may be further appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Supreme Court of Canada This is the final court of appeal in Canada. The SCC only hears appeals that are of great importance or that have to do with a question of law. Ie how to interpret one, decide if one is unconstitutional The SCC also automatically hears appeals in split decisions on the Provincial Court of Appeal Hears appeals from Federal Court of Appeal

Precedent The Supreme Court of Canada is Canada’s highest court and thus sets national precedents All courts in all provinces and territories must follow decisions

The Judges Judges in the SCC are appointed by the federal government Supreme Court decisions may be either unanimous or majority