CLASSIFYING LAW

CLASSIFYING THE LAW Our laws get divided or classified in a number of ways: SUBSTANTIVE LAW – (The Substance of law) consists of all laws that list the rights and obligations or duties of each person in society PROCEDURAL LAW – (The Process of law) outlines the steps involved in protecting the rights or enforcing the obligations given under substantive law

EXAMPLE Let’s say a police officer stops a motorist and charges that person with drinking and driving… What would be the substantive and procedural aspects of what the officer must do?

DIVISIONS OF LAW Our Substantive category of law then gets divided into two distinct categories:  PUBLIC LAW  PRIVATE LAW

PUBLIC LAW Controls the relationship between government and the people who live in society and represents laws that apply to all individuals The three types are: Criminal Constitutional Administrative

PUBLIC LAW CRIMINAL LAW Set of rules passed by Parliament defining acts called “crimes” which are offenses against society; Consists of acts defined in the Criminal Code, and also Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and the Youth Criminal Justice Act Main purposes of criminal law are to punish offenders, protect society, and prevent crimes Burden of Proof in a criminial action is beyond a reasonable doubt

PUBLIC LAW CONSTITUTIONAL LAW The laws that set out the structure of the federal, provincial, and territorial governments and the division of powers among them For example, since the responsibility for education was given to the provinces under the British North America Act, the federal government could not make a ruling on what courses should be taught in high schools. Oh, and don’t forget the Constitution Act on April 17, 1982…kinda important

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

PUBLIC LAW ADMINISTRATIVE LAW Is the area of law that controls the relationship between citizens and government agencies LLBO (Liquor Control) CRTC (Communications) Workers Compensation (Employment) Various Tribunals (Landlord/Tenants)

PRIVATE LAW Outlines the legal relationship between private citizens/organizations (Also known as Civil law) Its purpose is to manage the behaviour of persons and organizations in conflict with each other, and to pay damages to those who have been wronged

PRIVATE LAW In a civil case, each party is usually represented by a lawyer Person who starts an action is the Plaintiff Person who is being sued is the Defendant Burden of proof in a civil action is on a balance of probabilities Defendant will try to show no fault and/or no damages Private law has SEVERAL divisions….

PRIVATE LAW FAMILY LAW – Support, child custody, division of property, divorce CONTRACT LAW – Outlines requirements for legally binding agreements. Simply (Buying something from a store) or very complicated (Purchasing a string of malls) TORT LAW - Negligence cases

PRIVATE LAW PROPERTY LAW - Property is anything that has value and includes personal property (things in general), real property (land and buildings), and intangibles (something you can own but can’t hold eg. Stocks) LABOUR LAW – Governs the employer/employee relationship and also deals with union/management issues, pay equity (equal pay for equal work), wrongful dismissal, minimum wage, etc. WILLS & ESTATES CORPORATE CONSUMER