SOSC 1350 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Precedent, United States Constitution

• School: York University
• Department: Social Science
• Course: SOSC 1350
• Professor: Reese Simpkins

Document Summary

Lecture #2: theorizing canadian law: the (liberal) official version of the. Keywords to know: natural law, positive law, common law, stare decisis, civil law, official version of the law (ovl, liberalism, law as discourse, jurisprudential/formal justice. What is law: totality of the legal apparatus includes: Natural law: law given to us by nature: law does not change- stable principles inherent in nature. Positive law: law made by humans: law is made through things like codification and legal precedent. Canadian law: civil law (quebec, common law (rest of canada and the supreme court) Common law: english form of law, spread through colonization. Civil v. common law: common law developed by custom, prior to the writing of law, civil law relies on a very detailed, written code : - written part- key to civil laws popularity. Important aspect of legal system= predictability: civil law= predictable because it is written, common law- predictable because of doctrine of precedent.