1. Introduction to Law

2. To Start With…
Law – “the system of rules that a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and may enforce by the imposition of penalties” – Thanks Google!
Concept of Law - The characteristic qualities, values, virtues and ideas comprising the law. These characteristic qualities give meaning and significance to the system and laws of a society.
E.g. fairness, equality, authority, etc.
What role does our legal system play in our society? What types of “systems” exist that give structure to our society?

3. Jurisprudence
The science or philosophy of law that deals with both applying legal doctrine and investigating the concepts, notions, and principles of legal thought…
This is a way of thinking about the law, and the search for coherent, fair, and principled lawmaking
Law evolves…it is not carved in stone (actually…)

4. Your turn! Define these words in a legal context: Sovereignty
Ownership/Power
Equality
Ownership
Authority
Jurisdiction
Morality
Power/Authority
Rights
Power
Duty
Justice
Right

5. How do you respond…?
If you see something that is unfair/unjust, how to you react?
What qualities are necessary in order to maintain law and order?

6. Situation….
Your plane crash lands on an unknown location, completely untraceable….only our class survives
There is no communication system
Enough resources for 1 month – There is a forest, might have food…no one knows…
Nothing else (resources) made it - destroyed
There is no clear authority (just you folks!)
Your job is to survive and create a society…What do you do? – Each group needs to record their response on a page

7. Good Laws…
1. Laws should be fair – they should be approximately the same for ALL members of the society.
2. Laws should be publicized and understood by all the members of society. The members should be aware of the penalties involved if they break the law and should know what their rights are and what recourse they have if their rights are violated.
3. Laws should not be capable of being changed to suit the whim of the times or a specific group in the society.
4. Adequate deterrents or punishments must be provided.
5. Laws must be recorded in some permanent form. (i.e. Criminal Code)
6. Laws must be enforceable

8. Rule of Law Magna Carta 1215 – King John had to sign it
Three components:
General recognition of the law is necessary for an orderly society
The law applies to everyone equally
A person’s legal rights will not be taken away except in accordance with the law

9. Lawmaking in Canada 3 Levels of government in Canada?
Federal (s.91 BNA Act) Statutes & regulations
Provincial (s.92 BNA Act) Statutes & regulations
Municipal (s BNA Act)By-laws & regulations
**Examples of responsibilities for each?

10. Common law system *British
The CML system is made up of 3 types of laws
Statute law
= written laws – passed by government (legislative process)
Case Law
= court decisions – judges interpretations of how Statute law applies to specific cases before the court
Customs & conventions
Unwritten laws – long standing practises that are laws

11. Civil law system *French
The CVL system is characterized by:
Codification
– all laws are organized and published in code books (ex:? )
Role of judge
- the judge simply applies the laws, is not preoccupied with the result being fair, is not to make interpretations that will change the meaning of the law (legal formalism)
- all law making is in the hands of the elected politicians who go through the legislative process to change the law

12. CML & CVL These are both influences on our Canadian legal system
They are not the same thing as Criminal and Civil law, but rather how both systems work

13. PRECEDENT
PRECEDENT=Something that has been done that can later serve as an example or rule for how other things should be done.
Came about when a case & its decision became common knowledge in the legal system
Lawyers and judges today refer to earlier decisions on cases that are identical or similar to the ones they are dealing with as ‘precedents’
Courts are bound (within prescribed limits) by prior decisions of superior courts

14. PRECEDENT HELPS ACHIEVE 2 THINGS
Judges establish the same standard of judging offences throughout the country.
Ensures that the law develops only in accordance with the changing perceptions of the community (therefore reflects the morals and expectations of the community)

15. REVIEW cont... PROBLEMS WITH THE RULE OF PRECEDENT
Following the precedent too closely can cause a problem if the precedent is not recent.
All cases are not judged on their own merit but in reference to past judgements.

16. A system based on precedent will be rational (without making reason its god), will be adaptable to varied and changing circumstances, will take into account human experience, will be highly practical and will be composed by the finest minds of many generations, tuned to a fine balance and learned in the art of detecting legal issues and resolving legal problems. The gradual developments of the system will avoid the pitfalls of hasty and counterproductive reformation.

17. Elements of a citation – Criminal
R. v. Leduc (2010), 35 C.R.(5th) 327 (Ont. C.A.)
criminal case
R = Rex / Regina (latin King/Queen)
Leduc = accused / defendant
2010 = year the judgement was delivered
35 = volume #
C.R. = where case is reported “Criminal Reports”
327 = page #
Ont. C.A. = jurisdiction & court

18. CASE CITATIONS
Is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases
Can be found in special books called ‘Reporters’ or in law reports
Often located in a law library or law database online

19. INFORMATION FOUND IN A CASE CITATION
Title of the reporter
Volume number of the reporter
Page number in the reporter
Series of the reporter
Year of decision and/or report
Court

20. EACH COURT HAS ITS OWN COURT CODE
Supreme Court of Canada = SCC
Federal Court of Appeal = FCA
Federal Court = FC
Provincial Courts of Appeal = A two letter province identifier + ‘CA’. E.g. ABCA, BCCA, ONCA
Provincial Superior Courts = A two letter province identifier + a two letter superior court identifier (which varies depending on the name of the superior court. E.g. ABSC, BCSC
Provincial Inferior Courts = A two letter province identifier + a two letter inferior court identifier. E.g. ABPC, BCPC

21. BREAKDOWN OF INFO IN CASE CITATION Standard Case Citation: R. v
BREAKDOWN OF INFO IN CASE CITATION Standard Case Citation: R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd., (1985) 1 S.C.R. 145.
Year of Decision
Year of Reporter
Volume
Reporter
Series
Page
Court/
Jurisdiction
R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd
(1985) 1
S.C.R.
295
SCC
R. v. Canada Trust Co. And O.H.R.C.
(1990) 69
D.L.R.
(4th)
321
ONCA

22. LIST OF MAJOR CANADIAN PRINT LAW REPORTS SERIES
The following lists the major report series. It is not a complete list. Many older series and some less frequently used series are not listed.
National Reports
Dominion Law Reports (DLR) Federal Court Reports (FCR) Federal Trial Reports (FTR) National Reporter (NR) Supreme Court Reports (SCR)
Regional Reports
Atlantic Provinces Reports (APR) Eastern Law Reporter (East) Maritime Provinces Reports (MPR) Western Weekly Reports (WWR)

23. Supreme Court of Canada Cases

24. Elements of a citation - Civil
Leduc et al. v. Boulanger (2010), 233 N.B.R. (2d) 29 (N.B.Q.B.)
Leduc et al. = plaintiff and all others in lawsuit
v. latin for “against”
Boulanger = defendant
2010 = year of the decision
233 = volume number
N.B.R. = New Brunswick Reports
29 = page #
N.B.Q.B. = jurisdiction & court = New Bruswick Court of Queen’s Bench

25. Changes to law in Canada
Laws in Canada change because:
A) Technology innovations
B) Demographic changes (population)
C) Value changes
D) National emergencies
Discuss what some examples for each driving force may be.
Which one do you think influences changes in law the most.

26. Citizens who change the law …
Dr. Henry Morgentaler – the Abortion law in Canada:
Prior to 1969, abortion was always illegal in Canada
1969 amendments made to the CCC
~ women who have been raped or who may die because of health issues during pregnancy, can be granted an abortion, if the hospital committee agrees to it … any woman seeking an abortion or physician who performs an abortion outside of this way = CRIME
~ in the 1970s Morgentaler begins opening abortion clinics illegally in Montreal and other cities in Canada
~he was arrested several times and put on trial for breaking the criminal law of Canada

27. Morgentaler cont. …
When put on trial he always chose trial by jury, juries always acquitted him based on his arguments that he was saving women’s lives by granting them legal and safe abortions, because the law made women get illegal, unsafe abortions …*televised
In his last trial, he and his lawyer raised a Charter challenge … section 287 of the CCC making Abortion illegal violated s. 7 of women and doctor’s Charter rights…
In 1987 the SCC agreed that the Abortion laws of Canada were an unjustified violation of s.7 of the Charter … they struck down s. 287 of the CCC

28. Sue Rodriguez … Rodriguez was ill with a terminal disease
She wanted the right to have her doctor end her life, when she felt she could no longer go on – this is a form of homicide in the CCC
She argued before the SCC that her s.7 right to “life, liberty and security of the person” included her right to end her life when she decided to with the help of her doctor
The SCC decided against Rodriguez, that s.7 does not include your right to end your life with the help of a physician *she did so anyways, no charges were laid