Canada's Courts and Judicial System

Like America, Canada's system of justice is based on English Common Law. Canada recognizes all the generally-understood basic principals of Western justice, such as "innocent until proven guilty" and the "right to remain silent." These rights are all enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights, which is part of the Canadian constitution.

Canada's judicial branch of government is divided into many parts. There are Federal Courts for crimes and issues involving laws of the Federal Government's jurisdiction and Provincial Courts for crimes and issues that involve the jurisdiction of the provinces. There are also a bunch of other smaller courts for petty things like divorce and speeding tickets.

In most cases, convicted people go before provincial courts. Crimes like theft, assault, and murder are all provincial offenses. Going straight to a federal court is more rare, as federal crimes tend to be less common offenses, such as copywrite infringement, income tax fraud, or treason.

If you don't like a provincial court's judgement, you can appeal it to the supreme court of your province. If you still don't like it, or the provinical supreme court feels unqualified, the case can be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court then has the power to overturn laws it finds unconstitutional, and thus permanently acquit the accused of all charges.

The highest court in the Land, often dubbed "The Court of Last Resort" is the Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada operates like any other Supreme Court, hearing cases that have appealed their way up from any of the lower courts. Before 1949 there was no Supreme Court, and making final appeal required going all the way to England to argue before the Law Lords of the British Privy Council.

Today, the Supreme Court of Canada has nine Justices, all of whom are directly appointed by the Prime Minister. They serve until their 75th birthday, or until they resign. The leader of the Supreme Court is the Chief Justice, and Canada's current Chief Justice is a woman named Beverley McLachlin. Along with her various judicial duties, the Chief Justice is also the second person in line to replace the Governor General, should he die, or be otherwise removed from office.

Supreme court justices are chosen based on regional representation, and are usually promoted by the PM from sitting provincial supreme court justices. Because the PM appoints these people completely unilaterally, they're often quite unknown to the general public. This secretive appointments system is not universally popular, but the government usually argues it's still superior to "US style" Supreme Court appointments, in which the justices are openly quizzed by politicians, and thus politicized and de-legitimized.

In recent years the Supreme Court of Canada has become particularly relevant for its rising "judicial activism." Because it's the court of last resort, and because Canada's constitutional Charter of Rights and Freedoms is so new, the Supreme Court tends to have a lot of power in "interpreting" exactly what the often vaugely-worded charter "really means." This leads to some controversy, as many disagree with the idea that the un-elected court should have the power to re-write or throw out the nation's laws. Our current government sometimes attempts to deal with this criticism by asking the court to "review" a law before it is passed, to ensure there will be no lawsuits afterwards.

All other judges in Canada are also appointed, either by the Prime Minister's office, or the office of the Provincial Premier, depending on if the court is Federal or Provincial. The rationale for appointing Judges instead of electing them is to keep them "above" partisan politics. By not being subjected to elections, the Judges will supposedly be more independent from fickle public opinion, and therefore issuer wiser judgments.

Canada's courtroom customs, dress, and traditions are all quite distinct and unusual. Most are based on British traditions, but a few American customs have been incorporated, as well.

Canadian Justices wear black robes with a crimson sash, and a stiff, white, cross-shaped collar. The sash is to help differentiate the Judge from the various other lawyers, clerks, and secretaries in the courtroom- all of whom wear robes and collars, as well. On ceremonial occasions, the Supreme Court Justices wear bright red robes with thick fur linings. The red and white color combination has earned this outfit the nickname "the Santa costume." Unlike most other Commonwealth countries, Canadian Judges and Lawyers do not wear wigs. Their use was abolished sometime in the early 20th century, although the exact date seems to vary from province to province. Canadian Judges also use gavels, which is another distinctly American tradition not found in the rest of the Commonwealth.

Canadian judges are traditionally addressed as "Your Honor" in small courts, and "My Lord" or "My Lady" in supreme and appeals courts. Ironically, the only exception is the Supreme Court of Canada. They thought the whole "My Lord" thing was too pretentious, and recently went back to just "Your Honor." Lawyers, for their part refer to each other as "my friend" during trial.

As I mentioned in the Monarchy section, Canada's justice system is based on the idea that the Queen personifies the state, so committing a crime against the state is treated as if it were a crime against the Queen herself. The term Regina, which is Latin for "Queen" is used a lot in a trial. For example, when citing a past crime against the state, the lawyer might refer to it as "Regina Vs. Smith" or even
"R. Vs. Smith." Some Canadian lawyers get to be members of an elite organization known as the Queen's Council, and put the letters "Q.C." after their name. This is kind of an elitist practice, and doesn't really mean much, but a lawyer who has those letters behind his name will generally be recognized as a better lawyer than one who doesn't.

Every Canadian courtroom must prominently display the Queen's Coat of Arms. The Coat of Arms is usually placed above the Judge's seat, and it represents the Queen's authority. When lawyers and judges walk into the courtroom for the first time, they always bow to the Coat of Arms, to show respect for the Queen. Other than the Coat of Arms, Canadian courtrooms are usually free from decorations such as flags, paintings, or photographs.

It is against the law to take photographs in Canada's courtrooms. I have done it a few times however, and no one seemed to really care. Courtroom artists are usually responsible for illustrating the trial, and such illustrations are what we usually see on the nightly news. Oddly enough, it is not illegal to take photographs, or even film the proceedings of the Supreme Court of Canada. Supreme Court trials can been seen regularly on CPAC, the Canadian Public Affairs Channel (Canadian Version of C-SPAN).