The Canadian Judiciary

The Canadian Judiciary
Author: William R. Lederman
Publisher: Osgoode Hall law School, York University
Total Pages: 272
Release: 1976
Genre: Law
ISBN:

A History of Law in Canada, Volume One

A History of Law in Canada, Volume One
Author: Philip Girard
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 928
Release: 2018-12-21
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1487530595

A History of Law in Canada is an important three-volume project. Volume One begins at a time just prior to European contact and continues to the 1860s, Volume Two covers the half century after Confederation, and Volume Three covers the period from the beginning of the First World War to 1982, with a postscript taking the account to approximately 2000. The history of law includes substantive law, legal institutions, legal actors, and legal culture. The authors assume that since 1500 there have been three legal systems in Canada – the Indigenous, the French, and the English. At all times, these systems have co-existed and interacted, with the relative power and influence of each being more or less dominant in different periods. The history of law cannot be treated in isolation, and this book examines law as a dynamic process, shaped by and affecting other histories over the long term. The law guided and was guided by economic developments, was influenced and moulded by the nature and trajectory of political ideas and institutions, and variously exacerbated or mediated intercultural exchange and conflict. These themes are apparent in this examination, and through most areas of law including land settlement and tenure, and family, commercial, constitutional, and criminal law.

Canada's Trial Courts

Canada's Trial Courts
Author: Peter H. Russell
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2007-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 080209323X

One of the most important but least examined aspects of the Canadian judicial system is the dual structure of civil and criminal trial courts. Canada's Trial Courts examines the co-existence, in every province, of superior courts (presided over by federally appointed judges) and 'lower' courts (staffed by provincially appointed judges). Combining both political and legal analysis, this is the first book to provide an in depth study of the evolution and operation of Canada's trial courts. This collection of essays begins with an exploration of the constitutional origins of Canada's integrated court system and the failure of federal and provincial governments to cooperate in its development. Following are discussions of a number of contemporary reform projects in various jurisdictions, including Quebec, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and Nunavut, as well as examinations of competing visions of how Canada's trial courts should be organized in the future. To put the issue in a comparative perspective, the concluding section provides examples of how trial courts have been restructured in the United Kingdom and the state of California. Proposing a range of practical alternatives to the present system, the volume offers a ground-breaking legal analysis that addresses constitutional obstacles to trial court reform, and assesses the political factors that influence reform at the judicial level. Featuring distinguished contributors from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, Canada's Trial Courts offers a comprehensive and up-to-date examination of an important but neglected issue that ultimately has a profound impact on the quality of justice that Canadians experience.

Ethical Principles for Judges

Ethical Principles for Judges
Author: Canadian Judicial Council
Publisher:
Total Pages: 56
Release: 1998
Genre: Law
ISBN:

This publication is the latest in a series of steps to assist judges in carrying out their onerous responsibilities, and represents a concise yet comprehensive set of principles addressing the many difficult ethical issues that confront judges as they work and live in their communities. It also provides a sound basis to promote a more complete understanding of the role of the judge in society and of the ethical dilemmas they so often encounter. Sections of the publication cover the following: the purpose of the publication; judicial independence; integrity; diligence; equality; and impartiality, including judicial demeanour, civic and charitable activity, political activity, and conflicts of interest.

The Federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Court

The Federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Court
Author: Martine Valois
Publisher: Irwin Law
Total Pages:
Release: 2021-10
Genre:
ISBN: 9781552215470

The Federal Court of Appeal and Federal Court are unique among Canada's courts because they are itinerant -- they hear cases in all parts of Canada -- as well as being bilingual and bijural. This book was prepared for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Federal Courts in 2021. Seventy-eight current and retired judges and prothonotaries on the two courts were interviewed and are referred to throughout the book. The authors present a brief history of these courts and their predecessor -- the Exchequer Court of Canada -- and an overview of the courts' jurisdiction, decision-making trends, and unique attributes. There are chapters on each of the courts' specialties -- administrative law, immigration and refugee law, intellectual property, security and intelligence, Indigenous issues, the environment, admiralty, labour and human rights, and tax. Chief Justice Noël and Chief Justice Crampton each contribute a chapter. The preface is by Justice Frank Iacobucci and the epilogue by Justice Robert Décary.

Brian Dickson

Brian Dickson
Author: Robert J. Sharpe
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 636
Release: 2003-01-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780802089526

Engaging and incisive, Brian Dickson: A Judge's Journey traces Dickson's life from a Depression-era boyhood in Saskatchewan, to the battlefields of Normandy, the boardrooms of corporate Canada and high judicial office, and provides an inside look at the work of the Supreme Court during its most crucial period.

The Supreme Court on Trial

The Supreme Court on Trial
Author: Kent Roach
Publisher:
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2001
Genre: Law
ISBN:

This book addresses timely questions: What is judicial activism? Can judges simply read their own political preferences into the Charter? Does the Court have the last word over democratically elected legislatures? Are our judges captives of special interests? What can Canadians and their governments do if they think the Court has got it wrong?

Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice

Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice
Author: Kent Roach
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2019-01-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0773556451

In August 2016 Colten Boushie, a twenty-two-year-old Cree man from Red Pheasant First Nation, was fatally shot on a Saskatchewan farm by white farmer Gerald Stanley. In a trial that bitterly divided Canadians, Stanley was acquitted of both murder and manslaughter by a jury in Battleford with no visible Indigenous representation. In Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice Kent Roach critically reconstructs the Gerald Stanley/Colten Boushie case to examine how it may be a miscarriage of justice. Roach provides historical, legal, political, and sociological background to the case including misunderstandings over crime when Treaty 6 was negotiated, the 1885 hanging of eight Indigenous men at Fort Battleford, the role of the RCMP, prior litigation over Indigenous underrepresentation on juries, and the racially charged debate about defence of property and rural crime. Drawing on both trial transcripts and research on miscarriages of justice, Roach looks at jury selection, the controversial “hang fire” defence, how the credibility and beliefs of Indigenous witnesses were challenged on the stand, and Gerald Stanley's implicit appeals to self-defence and defence of property, as well as the decision not to appeal the acquittal. Concluding his study, Roach asks whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's controversial call to “do better” is possible, given similar cases since Stanley's, the difficulty of reforming the jury or the RCMP, and the combination of Indigenous underrepresentation on juries and overrepresentation among those victimized and accused of crimes. Informed and timely, Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice is a searing account of one case that provides valuable insight into criminal justice, racism, and the treatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada.