CANADIAN LAW BASICS
This is the principle that everyone, including governments and government officials, is subject to the law.
What is the rule of law
This person is responsible for prosecuting criminal offences on behalf of the Crown.
Who is the Crown prosecutor
This document protects fundamental rights and freedoms from government action in Canada.
What is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
This is Canada's highest court
What is the Supreme Court of Canada
A student is accused of stealing a phone. The teacher says, "You must prove that you didn't steal it." What important legal principle is being ignored?
What is the presumption of innocence?
This type of law involves disputes between private individuals or organizations, such as a disagreement over a contract.
What is civil law?
This is the level of proof required for a criminal conviction in Canada
What is beyond a reasonable doubt
A student is prevented from expressing a peaceful political opinion at school simply because the principal disagrees with the opinion. What important Canadian legal principle could be involved?
Freedom of expression.
This 1986 Supreme Court case established the famous test used to determine whether a limitation on a Charter right can be justified under Section 1.
What is R. v. Oakes
Police stop a person and search their home without legal authority or justification. Which Charter protection could be relevant?
What is Section 8 – protection against unreasonable search and seizure?
This type of law deals with offences against society and includes offences such as theft, assault, and robbery.
What is criminal law?
This legal concept refers to the physical act or conduct that forms part of a criminal offence.
What is actus reus
The government creates a law that limits a person's freedom, but argues that the limit is necessary to protect public safety. What question should a court ask before deciding whether the limit is acceptable?
Whether the limit on the right is reasonable and can be justified in a free and democratic society.
This case involved a teacher who promoted antisemitic views and raised the issue of freedom of expression and hate propaganda.
What is R. v. Keegstra?
A city bans all public demonstrations for an entire year because officials are concerned about possible violence. Identify one Charter right that could be affected and one question a court might ask.
Freedom of peaceful assembly under Section 2(c); the court could ask whether the limitation is justified under Section 1/Oakes test.
This principle means that a person accused of a crime is considered innocent until the Crown proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
What is the presumption of innocence?
This legal concept generally refers to the guilty mind or required mental element of a criminal offence.
What is mens rea?
A government law limits a Charter right. A court wants to determine whether the limit is justified. What legal test would the court use, and what does it generally examine?
The Oakes Test. It examines whether the government has an important objective and whether the limit is rationally connected, minimally impairing, and proportionate to that objective.
This Supreme Court case examined police searches of cell phones following an arrest and raised important questions about privacy under Section 8.
What is R. v. Fearon
A government creates a law limiting freedom of expression to prevent serious hate propaganda. What two competing interests would a court need to consider?
Freedom of expression and public protection/equality and prevention of serious discriminatory harm.
A law is passed by Parliament or a provincial legislature, but someone argues that the law violates the Constitution. This type of legal challenge ultimately involves this concept
What is constitutional law/judicial review?
A person intentionally takes another person's property knowing that they have no legal right to it. Identify the two major components of a criminal offence that would generally need to be considered.
What are actus reus and mens rea
This principle means that a person accused of a crime is considered innocent until the Crown proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
What is the presumption of innocence
This constitutional provision allows Parliament or a provincial legislature, under certain conditions, to declare that legislation will operate notwithstanding certain Charter rights.
What is Section 33 – the notwithstanding clause?
A government argues that a law limiting privacy is necessary to prevent terrorism. The person challenging the law argues that the law gives police too much power. Explain the legal framework a court could use to analyze this conflict.
The court could identify the Section 8 privacy right, determine whether it has been infringed, and then consider whether the limitation can be justified under Section 1 using the Oakes framework, including the government's objective, rational connection, minimal impairment, and proportionality/final balancing.