POL 221 Chapter Notes - Chapter 24: Supreme Court Act, Precedent, Canadian Judicial Council

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POL 221
• Professor: Andy Heard

Document Summary

The judiciary has always been associated with the rule of adjudication function in the political system, although other institutions may perform part of this function, too. Adjudication can be defined as interpreting the law in cases of dispute, of settling disputes by applying the law to them, or of making a judgement based on the law. Judges engage in the authoritative resolution of legal disputes, but many legal disputes are resolved without going to court or before going through the entire judicial process. It is only when an accommodation satisfactory to both sides cannot be reached that the formal adulatory process is pursued to the bitter end. The function of the judiciary therefore is to render formal, impartial, authoritative judgements in the case of legal disputes between two parties that cannot be settled otherwise. The judge, clothed with the coercive powers of the state, acts as an independent referee and decides which of the disputants is legal right.