The justice system

The Canadian justice system guarantees everyone due process under the law. Everyone means everyone. Due process means the government must respect all the legal rights a person is entitled to under the law, and those rights do not depend on where you were born, how long you have lived here or how much money you have.

In criminal matters the system rests on the presumption of innocence. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. A charge is an accusation and stays one until a court decides otherwise, which is why a person who has been arrested is still described as accused rather than criminal.

The guide names the inheritance these ideas come from: the rule of law, freedom under the law, democratic principles and due process. Courthouses put the same idea in stone with a blindfolded figure of Justice, blind to all considerations but the facts.

Laws in Canada are written rules, and elected representatives make them. Once a law exists, two different institutions carry it: the courts settle disputes, and the police enforce the laws. Keeping those jobs apart is what stops the person who arrests you from also being the person who judges you.

The law in Canada applies to everyone, including judges, politicians and the police. A cabinet minister who drives drunk faces the same offence as anyone else, an officer who assaults someone can be charged, and a judge is subject to the rules she applies from the bench.

At the top sits the Supreme Court of Canada, the highest court in the country. Nine judges sit on it, and the Governor General appoints them. Alongside it, the Federal Court of Canada deals with matters concerning the federal government.

Most provinces run two levels of their own: an appeal court and a trial court, the trial court sometimes called the Court of Queen's Bench or the Supreme Court. Below those sit the courts you are most likely to walk into: provincial courts for lesser offences, family courts for family matters, traffic courts for driving tickets, and small claims courts for civil cases involving small sums of money, where people often appear without a lawyer.

Since 2022 several provinces have renamed the Court of Queen's Bench the Court of King's Bench. The study guide still prints Queen's Bench, and the test follows the guide's wording, so answer with Queen's Bench.

The police keep people safe and enforce the law. Call them after an accident, a theft or an assault, if you witness a crime, or if someone goes missing. Which force answers depends on where you live. Ontario and Quebec have provincial police forces, and municipal police departments operate in all provinces. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police enforces federal laws throughout Canada, serves as the provincial police everywhere except Ontario and Quebec, and polices some municipalities as well.

The police answer to the public. You may question them about their service or their conduct, and almost all police forces have a complaint process for exactly that. Raising a complaint is a normal part of how the system works.

If a legal problem lands on you, lawyers can help you with it and can act for you in court. Cost is the usual worry, and the guide answers it plainly: if you cannot pay for a lawyer, most communities have legal aid services available free of charge or at low cost.