Secondary Sources of Canadian Law
The Constitution
 Based on values and principles derived from multiple primary sources
 Much of the document has direct links to British traditions
Statute Law
 Statute is any law passed by the fed/prov. government
Case Law
 Judges written explanations of their rulings, together, these form case law
 Won’t necessarily be written into a statute but will be considered in future
similar cases
Categories of Law
All laws are either Substantive or Procedural
Substantive: a law that identifies the rights and duties of a person or level of
government (i.e. a murder must be planned and deliberate to be first degree)
Procedural: a law that outlines the procedures that must be followed in
enforcing substantive laws (ex. How an arrest must be conducted)
All laws are also categorized as either Domestic or International law
Domestic: a law that governs activities within a particular country
International: a law that has jurisdiction in more than one country (extradition
treaty)
Domestic Law can be divided into Public and Private Law
Public Law: the area of law that regulates activities between a state and its
citizens (3 types)
1. Constitutional Law: sets out the distribution of powers between levels of
government and how the country will be governed
2. Administrative Law: governs relations between people on the one hand
and government agencies, boards, and departments on the other (WSIB
claims)
3. Criminal Law: prohibits and punishes behaviour that injures people,
property and society as a whole
Private Law (civil): regulates disputed between individuals, businesses or
organizations (5 types)
1. Family Law: governs relations among members of a family
2. Contract Law: governs agreements between people or companies to
purchase or provide goods and services
3. Tort Law: covers civil wrongs and damages that one person or company
cause to another, when the wrongs or damages arise independently of a
contractual relationship
4. Estate Law: regulates wills and probates, and determines what happens
to a person’s property after death
5. Property Law: applies primarily to the buying, selling and renting of land
and building and how land can be used, and personal property e.g.
jewellery
-can also apply to intangible property such as patents, copyright, bonds