Canada and the World Backgrounder articles from December 1995

Canada and the World Backgrounder archives from December 1995

Return to revenge? (the rise of the rule of law)
December 1, 1995... When law and order began, the only court was the head of the family or tribe. His (it was almost always a man) word was law. And, if the chief honcho was a bully -- tough. There was no court of appeal. With the development of farming came...

Trail by ordeal. (ancient methods of determining guilt or innocent)
December 1, 1995... Early trials were often decided without benefit of a jury. The idea was that someone or something out there "knows" who is guilty and will point him out if given a chance. So, instead of a jury to decide guilt or innocence there was an ordeal....

High-risk offenders. (recommendations on toughing criminal sentencing laws)
December 1, 1995... Federal and provincial justice ministers are ready to get tough with repeat offenders. At a meeting in January 1995 they decided on a new strategy to keep dangerous criminals off the street. They made several recommendations, such as: *...

Crime and punishment. (the impact of sensational criminal cases on the public perception of the Canadian legal system)
December 1, 1995... There's another madman on the loose. As this is written, police are telling women in the Vancouver area not to walk alone or even in small groups. In mid-October 1995, a maniac killed 16-year-old Tanya Smith and badly beat her friend Misty...

Perception vs reality. (the Canadian public's perception of crime and actual statistical evidence about criminal trends)
December 1, 1995... Every year Statistics Canada releases a study of crime. In August 1995, the numbers showed that: * for the third year in a row the number of murders went down; the homicide rate was the lowest in 25 years; * violent crime dropped by three...

A cold-bloodied trend. (murders committed by strangers increased in Toronto in 1994)
December 1, 1995... In the past, murder has been a family affair; the majority of victims were killed by someone known to them -- one third by a family member of relative. Now, a trend that's been observed in the United States has crossed the border into Canada....

Getting tough on crime. (Dead Serious Inc. will pay members for killing people committing crimes against them within the law)
December 1, 1995... Darryl Frank has founded Dead Serious, Inc. as his answer to crime. Mr. Frank says the idea behind his Texas-based company is simple: "If you are a member, Dead Serious will pay you $5,000 if you kill someone in accordance with the law. That is...

Young offenders. (Canada's Young Offenders Act)
December 1, 1995... A special focus for many critics of the justice system is the Young Offenders Act. If came into being in 1984 and deals with youth aged 12 to 17 who are charged with crimes. The Act has been the target of much criticism on the grounds that young...

Juries on trial. (the Canadian jury system)
December 1, 1995... Under existing law, anyone charged with an offence that carries a possible jail term of five years or longer is entitled to be tried by a jury of his or her peers. If you're over 18 years of age, healthy, and have never been convicted of an...

Getting the edge. (jury selection methods lawyers may employ in the United States)
December 1, 1995... If you'd been a juror in the O.J. Simpson murder trial you would have first had to fill out a 75-page questionnaire. You would have had 294 questions to answer on such issues as your religion, political views, income, membership in controversial...

The circus comes to town. (media access to the courts in the United States and Canada)
December 1, 1995... There's a marked difference between the American publish-it-all attitude towards testimony in the courts and what some see as the increasing tendency of judges in Canadian courts to restrict publication in certain circumstances A scene in an...

Publish and be banned. (the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island restricts access to court papers in civil cases)
December 1, 1995... In 1995, Prince Edward Island's Supreme Court barred anyone from looking, during the early stages of legal actions, at court documents filed in civil cases. The media may still report on those documents if they receive them from lawyers or their...

The facts, and nothing but the facts. (discerning the legal facts of a case and wrongful convictions in Canada corrected with DNA evidence)
December 1, 1995... DNA. Deoxyribonucleic acid. It's a microscopic, double-stranded element in the cells of the body. It determines everything from the colour of your eyes to which diseases you might develop in your life. It's unique to every individual, except...

Prove it. (types of evidence recognized by Canadian courts)
December 1, 1995... Evidence -- information that proves or disproves disputed facts. In criminal law it's up to the prosecution to supply evidence of a crime and prove the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt. That evidence can come from eye-witnesses to a...

Finding the truth. (cross examination techniques)
December 1, 1995... Cross-examination of witnesses is seen as an art among lawyers and has been described as "the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth." In his book, Lawyers, Jack Batten quotes criminal lawyer Ross McKay, considered an ace...

Double whammy. (the impact of victims rights on criminal procedures in Canada)
December 1, 1995... A lot of people think criminals get a better deal from our justice system than their victims do. Generally, the trial process involves only the Crown, or prosecution, and the accused. Unless they are needed as witnesses, victims have no part in...

Who's on trial here? (defendant Agostino Ferreira acting as his own lawyer in a Canadian court causes controversy among victim's rights groups)
December 1, 1995... It isn't often that a defendant acts as his or her own lawyer at a criminal trial. But Agostino Ferreira, charged with kidnapping, confining, and sexually assaulting two employees of a Montreal boutique, did last November. And that allowed him to...

Who judges the judges? (the selection process for Canadian judges)
December 1, 1995... WANTED: mature, objective, community-minded lawyer with a sterling legal reputation to fill the position of judge. Must possess independent judgment and human qualities that show a deep understanding of social issues. Good health essential to...

To speak or not to speak. (Canadian judges political activism outside the classroom)
December 1, 1995... Some judges are taking on a more political role and expressing their opinions away from the bench. However, the judicial establishment and many judges are reluctant to move beyond the unwritten rule that they are not to be heard (and are barely...

Grease for the wheels of justice. (plea bargaining increases efficiency in the Canadian legal system without compromising rights)
December 1, 1995... Without plea bargains Canada's criminal justice system would grind to a halt. That's the opinion of most Crown attorneys and most defence lawyers. In Southern Ontario, however, there are at least 300,000 people who disagree. These are the...

One time around. (legal definition of double jeopardy)
December 1, 1995... A basic principle of the Common Law is that no one can be tried twice for the same offence. We sometimes call this concept "double jeopardy;" a description the americans have given to it. The reason for enshrining the idea in the Charter of...

Between a rock and a hard place. (the defendant must show remorse for a judge to accept a plea bargain)
December 1, 1995... In 1995, the Ontario Court of Appeal set aside a conviction against a youth who faced a classic Catch-22. Stephen K. had been charged with 10 sexual offences involving five girls. His lawyer told him the Crown would accept a guilty plea to four...

Justice denied? (delays in Canadian courts are raising concerns that justice is being denied)
December 1, 1995... Chief Justice Antonio Lamer has a warning for Canadians. He says that our justice system has become so complex -- and some trials so long -- that the process could collapse under its own weight. The head of the Supreme Court asks: "How can...

Justice delayed - a true story. (delays in the Canadian courts deny one citizen justice)
December 1, 1995... We'll call him Peter -- for reasons that will become clear we can't use his real name. Peter runs his own business, a temporary employment agency. Joan, one of his sales people, quit. But, before she left, she photocopied all Peter's client...

One law for the rich? (Canadian legal aid societies face funding problems)
December 1, 1995... The Statue of Justice wears a blindfold. This is to symbolize the impartiality of the law. It does not matter whether a person is male or female, black or white, rich or poor, Justice is blind to these differences. She delivers her judgments...

Multicultural justice. (taking cultural traditions into account in the Canadian legal system)
December 1, 1995... Native people in Canada are moving closer and closer to their own legal system. It's based on the Indian heritage of healing rather than punishing an offender. In 1994, Justice Minister Allan Rock wondered in a discussion paper whether...

Parliament's watchdog. (Canada's Supreme Court interprets the Charter of Rights and Freedoms)
December 1, 1995... The justice system is fond of Latin phrases and one of them is very important in criminal cases. Mens rae means "a guilty mind." Without that "guilty mind" you can't be convicted of most criminal offences. It must be proved that an accused person...

Canada's legal tradition. (legal rights and obligations in everyday life)
December 1, 1995... Even if we have never been in a courtroom, law shapes our everyday life. When you borrow a book from the library, you enter, probably unthinkingly, into a legal relationship of rights and obligations. You have the right to keep the book for a...

Three legal traditions. (indigenous law, civil law and the common law)
December 1, 1995... When the judges in Canada's highest court make a decision on a matter before them, they may draw on the three different traditions of law that Canada inherited when it was created in 1867. When the European colonizers claimed the North American...

Principles and process. (rule of law in Canada)
December 1, 1995... A fundamental principle of English common law that seeks to make the law fair and accessible to all is known as the rule of law. It is a concept that implies that everyone should be able to know what the law requires and that the law should apply...

The division of powers. (the Canadian federal system)
December 1, 1995... In a federal state such as Canada, in which there are provinces and a central government, there must be some rules for dividing up power between the provincial legislatures and the federal parliament. These rules are part of a country's...

Common law and legislation. (differences between legislative law and common law)
December 1, 1995... The term 'common law' can mean more than one thing. It can be used to distinguish the English legal heritage from le droit civil that was brought to Quebec from France. But, people also use the term `common law' to distinguish the law expressed...

Public law and private law. (civil law and criminal law)
December 1, 1995... We have seen that the meaning of the term `common law' depends on the context in which it is used. The same is true of the term `civil law.' In the Canadian legal system, law can be divided by subject matter into three branches: civil, criminal...

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
December 1, 1995... In a federal state, the constitution sets out the rules for dividing power and responsibility between the federal and provincial governments. The constitution is the supreme law of the land, and all legislation passed by either level of...

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
December 1, 1995... Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law: Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms Rights and freedoms in Canada 1. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and...

The limits of the law. (problems the law cannot solve)
December 1, 1995... Because the law looms so large in our private and public lives, people often expect it to provide a solution to every problem. But, as we can see from considering the issue of violence against women, passing a law prohibiting certain kinds of...