What are court systems
the structures of formal legal tribunals in a society
When was the federal court system established?
BNA act in 1867
Functions of court systems
Dispute resolution
Administering justice
State or private disputes
Answering legal questions
Interpreting law
Establishing case law
Enforcing contracts
How is judicial independence established?
security of tenure
financial security
administrative independence
2 meanings of civil law
Codified law ( don’t practice case law )
private law
Administrative boards and tribunals (lowest)
regulate dispute outside of the court process
Military courts
deals with disciplinary violations
structured like prov court
Provincial court
Provincial and Territorial courts
The primary entry into Canada’s court system
Canada’s provinces and territories practise common law with the exception of Quebec (civil law)
Judges are appointed by provincial governments
4 Divisions of provincial and territorial court
Youth division: small claims, 12-17 years old
Family division: divorce, custody, adoption
Civil claims division: contracts, financials
Criminal division: minor offenses, summary offenses, provincial legislation
Superior court of the provinces
2 divisons:
Appeal division: appeals from trial division
Judgepanels
Trial division: indictable offenses, larger claims, criminal appeals from lower courts
Happens first
Consists of juries
can review decisions of lower courts
judges appointed federally
Trial Division of federal court
Trial division: responds to civil disputes arising from federal government actions, federal-provincial disputes, intellectual property disputes, citizenship, immigration, refugee law, maritime law, class proceedings
Mclean v. Canada(Attorney General) (2018)
residencial schools
Merlo v. Canada (2017
sexual misconduct in workplaces and rcmp
Class action lawsuit
launches lawsuit on behalf of a group
Appeal division
hears appeals from the trial division and the federal administrative boards and tribunals
Tax court
Appeal court, hears appeals about tax assessments
Supreme court of canada
final court of appeal
9 justices (8 and 1 chief)
5 are women in canada
Seperation of justices
3 from Qb, 3 from ON, 2 from western provinces, 1 from atlantic provinces
appointments via prime minister
What do supreme justices do?
Hears appeals from provincial and federal
address constitutional matters
legal opinions
common and civil law
bound by legislation
R v Genereux
Genereux was in the military and was tried by a court martial.
He argued that the military court system wasn’t independent enough from the military chain of command — meaning it might not be fully fair
Characteristics of Canada’s court system
Adversarial system
High level of formality like the british
Open access
Jury of peers (random people)
Reasonable timeliness
What are reasonable timelines in Canada
Provincial: over 18 months
Federal: 30 months
Alternative dispute resolution
more recent in Canada
conducted by non-judicial officer
negotiation, mediation and concilation
Restorative justice
Restores relations with society
Form of alternative dispute resolution
Everyone needs to consent, even the victim
Principles include recognition, inclusion, accountability, dialogue, voluntariness, etc
Criminal code section 718.2: adopts principles of restorative justice for indigenous over-representation
