Law in Action

1. Law in Action Chapter 1

2. Everyday Law Activity – • From the point that you woke up this morning, list as many laws as you can think of up until this point that you either directly or indirectly encountered. • Group the laws into three categories • Municipal Laws • Provincial Laws • Federal Laws

3. Chapter Introduction • We live in a world governed by law. No matter what we do, the legal system and its laws are part of everyday life • Our legal system strives to represent principles Canadians believe in and each generation influences the legal system by changing existing laws or bring in new ones. • In 1982, the Government of Canada enacted the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that guarantees certain rights to all Canadians, regardless of their age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

4. What is Law? • There is no simple answer to this question. • In our complex society, law regulates our social, political, and economic activities from birth to death. • Laws restrict who we marry, who gets our money when we die, whether we can put a swimming pool in the backyard, at what age we can purchase certain products, and even what ingredients should be in our soft drinks. • Laws can change with time and according to location. For example, laws passed today might be quite different from laws passed in 1867, especially with respect to women’s rights and equal opportunity.

5. The Need for Law • Laws permit us to live with other people in a safe and peaceful way. • Disputes and disagreements are settled in court, not in the streets. If two people claim to own the same car, they do not settle the matter by dueling. Instead, the court decides on the rightful owner. • In Canada, we believe in the Rule of Law, a three-part principle of justice. • Rule of Law means that individuals must recognize and accept that law is necessary to regulate society • it means that the law applies equally to everyone, including people in power. • Rule of Law means that no one in our society has the authority to exercise unrestricted power to take away our rights except in accordance with the law.

6. Law and Morality • While some laws serve a practical purpose such as governing property rights, others reflect the moral values of the majority of society. • The relationship of law to moral standards can be controversial. • For example, do laws forbidding the possession of child pornography violate an individual’s freedom of expression? • Laws based on morality suggest the values, attitudes, and beliefs that Canadian citizens hold in common.

7. Law and Justice • The ultimate goal of law may be to ensure justice for all, but what exactly is justice? • Most Canadians would agree that equality is at the very heart of justice, but equality doesn’t necessarily mean applying the law equally to all people regardless of the situation. • Should a person who breaks into an unoccupied cottage to get a rope to save a drowning friend receive the same punishment as someone who breaks into the cottage to steal the television? • Underlying the concept of Justice • “treat like cases alike and different cases differently.” • law should not discriminate on the bases of irrelevant characteristics-you should not be denied admission to a movie because you have blue eyes, for example. • justice should be impartial, that is, it applies to everyone regardless of a person’s income or status. • Must conform to society’s values and beliefs

8. Historical Roots of Law • Written laws existed in early civilizations all over the world, and they had much in common. Laws concerning property rights, slavery, and the treatment of women and children were similar even in civilizations separated by great distances. • Canada’s legal system has been influenced by many earlier legal systems. • Jury process, for example, is a modern version of Greek juries. • The role of the lawyer comes from ancient Rome • French Civil Code, created under the French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte after the French Revolution, forms the bases of the Quebec Civil Code. • Biblical law and the Ten Commandments forbidding murder, adultery, theft and the worship of false gods, has also influenced the development of Canadian law. • Code of Hammurabi, laws based on retribution-an eye for an eye-

9. British law that has had the most influence in Canada. • The Rule of Law, a fundamental principle in Canadian law, is from the Magna Carta, a charter of political and civil rights signed in England in 1215. • The son of Henry II, King John, was forced to sign a document called the “Magna Carta” in June of 1215. • Also called the great charter, it established political and civil rights for the people of England, based on the rule of law. No one, not even the king, was above the law.

10. Historical Roots of Canadian Law • Henry II’s reign, there were no written rules to guide judges who traveled to towns and villages in order to hold court and resolve local disputes. • The courts were known as assizes and the judges were called circuit judges. These judges had to rely on their common sense to determine what was fair and just. They eventually agreed that similar cases should be decided in the same way • stare decisis, a Latin meaning “to stand by the decision.” The process of applying stare decisis developed into the rule of precedent used today. The record of these decisions formed the basis of common law, or case law, because the information was “common to all.” • Adversarial system of justice, where evidence is presented by two opposing parties to an impartial judge, is based on trial by combat, a duel between two parties to determine who is innocent that was introduced in England in 1066

11. Historical Forms of Justice • Trial by ordeal– used only when the sentence for guilt was the death penalty, it required a person to undergo torture to determine guilt or innocence. • Video: The Wooden Horse • Monty Python • Trial by oath helping– friends of the accused would swear on the Bible that he or she was innocent. From this came the use of juries to decide cases. • Trial by combat– determining guilt or innocence by having the parties fight a duel. From this came the adversarial system, the judicial process whereby evidence is presented by two opposing parties to an impartial judge or jury.

12. Review Questions: • Describe the three main components that make up Rule of Law. • Identify four characteristics of justice. • Why does the Magna Carta play such a large role in today’s society? • Explain the difference between Rules and Laws.

13. Chapter 1 - Vocabulary • Rule of Law • Code of Hammurabi • Restitution • Retribution • Case Law • Common Law • Adversarial System • Rule of Precedent • Stare Decisis • Magna Carta • Habeas Corpus