CRM 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Summary Offence, Domestic Violence, Preliminary Hearing
5 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Oct 17, 2017
Criminal Courts:
● Responsibilities
○ Determine guilt or innocence
○ Impose appropriate sentence
○ Protect the rights of the accused
● Judicial Independence
○ Fair, impartial trials
○ No political interference
○ Neutral decisions based on legal concepts
Cases COmpleted in Adult Criminal Court:
● ⅔ of cases result in a finding of guilt
● Those that go to trial-acquittal rate is 3%
Criminal Court System: (Highest to lowest)
1. Supreme Court
2. Provincial and Territorial Courts of Appeal/ Federal Court of Appeal
3. Provincial and Territorial Superior Courts/ Federal Court
4. Provincial and Territorial Courts
Provincial and Territorial Circuit Courts:
● Travelling court
○ In remote areas
● Problems
○ Backlog of cases
○ Time constraints-limit case preparation
○ Language and cultural barriers
■ Most extensive of circuit courts are in areas of Northwest Territories,
Northern Quebec and Nunavut
● Difficulties sentencing
○ Balance between culturally/community-relevant approaches and the rights and
protection of victims
Provincial and Territorial Courts (Lower Courts):
● Administered by provinces and territories
● Judges are appointed by province/territory
● Hear cases involving federal and provincial laws
● Single judge, no jury
● Have jurisdiction over most criminal offences, traffic violations, and provincial offences
○ Were historically meant to deal with less serious offences, in recent years this
has changed
■ Hear more serious cases than superior courts (in terms of volume)
Provincial and Territorial Superior Courts (Trial and Appeal):
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Oct 17, 2017
● Administered by provinces
● Hear the most serious of cases
● Judges are federally appointed
● Court of first appeal for lower courts
Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal:
● Established by parliament
● Judges are federally appointed
● Hears matters subject to federal statutes (i.e. copyright law, maritime law, immigration
law, etc.)
● Specializes in in-camera proceedings (closed proceedings)
○ Sensitive matters of federal jurisdiction
■ State secrets, terrorism cases
Supreme Court of Canada:
● Established under Constitution Act (1867)
○ Court of last resort, decisions are final
● Nine judges appointed by governor in council from different regions of Canada
● Eligible to appeal to the federal level only when at least one appellate court judge
dissents
○ If all 3 judges at the lower court agree then the appeal ends there, only can go to
Supreme court if at least one judge dissents
○ Judges required to be Superior Court judges or lawyers for at least 10 years
Supreme Court Decisions:
● Often involve:
○ Interpretations of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms or Complicated issues in
public or private law
● Permission or “leave” to appeal a lower court decision
○ Only about 10% are actually heard, no reasons given to those that aren’t heard
● “reference” --federal government asks the SCC for a legal opinion on an important legal
question:
○ Quebec Secession (1998)
○ Same-sex Marriage (2004)
Provincial Specialized Courts (Problem-Solving Courts):
● Mental Health
○ Objective is to reduce criminalization
■ Reduce offending, use of acute care, and time in custody; improve life
circumstances
● Drug
○ Objective is to address addictions and reduce recidivism with treatment
■ Cost-effective; can help long-term offenders; high rates of non-completion
● Vancouver Downtown Community Court
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Of cases result in a finding of guilt. Those that go to trial-acquittal rate is 3% Criminal court system: (highest to lowest: supreme court, provincial and territorial courts of appeal/ federal court of appeal, provincial and territorial superior courts/ federal court, provincial and territorial courts. Most extensive of circuit courts are in areas of northwest territories, Balance between culturally/community-relevant approaches and the rights and protection of victims. Hear cases involving federal and provincial laws. Have jurisdiction over most criminal offences, traffic violations, and provincial offences. Were historically meant to deal with less serious offences, in recent years this has changed. Hear more serious cases than superior courts (in terms of volume) Provincial and territorial superior courts (trial and appeal): Court of first appeal for lower courts. Hears matters subject to federal statutes (i. e. copyright law, maritime law, immigration law, etc. ) Court of last resort, decisions are final. Nine judges appointed by governor in council from different regions of canada.
