SOCI 327 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Summary Offence, Adversarial System, Trial
26 Jan 2018
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Document Summary
Two types of law in canada: public and private. Public law sets the rules for individuals in society and it includes criminal law. Private law (civil law) refers to relationships between individual actors (legal contracts) The criminal code in canada is over 1100 pags long. There are problems regarding updating the code. Some judicial decisions present grounds for mistrial because laws used no longer apply. There are also laws such as those prohibiting witchcraft that are still present in the code. There are two general categories used to differentiate the seriousness of crime. Mala prohibita refers to behavior that is prohibited by law. Mala in se refers to behavior that is immoral or evil. The criminal code differentiates the seriousness of crime specifically with reference to summary offenses (misdemeanors) and indictable offenses (felonies) Summary offenses carry a jail sentence up to six months and a fine, while indictable offenses can result in life imprisonment.
