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The Canadian Justice System and Law Enforcement

Justice system | Courts | Laws | Treaties | Issues | International Criminal Court | Scams | Crime statistics | Law enforcement agencies | Legal services |

Justice System

• Canada's System of Justice
  An overview of the basic principles of the Canadian legal system — its origins in English law (common law) and the Code Napoleon (civil law), the Canadian Constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the structure of the Canadian court system.
• Justice Canada
  Canadian federal laws and regulations, official policy papers, and links to case law.

Canadian Courts

• Canada's Court System
  Canada's judicial structure, from the Supreme Court to Provincial/Territorial Superior Courts, Appeals, Federal, Tax, Military, and Administrative Tribunals.
• Supreme Court of Canada
  Canada's highest court functions as a final court of appeal.
  • Biographies of the current justices.
  • Judgments (1983-2002)
• Federal Court of Canada
  Primarily a court of judicial review with civil and criminal jurisdiction.
  • Decisions (1992-2003)

Frequently requested laws

• Criminal Code
• Youth Criminal Justice Act (replaces the Young Offenders Act)
• Immigration Act
• Copyright Act
• Canada Business Corporations Act
• Canadian Labour Code
• Official Languages Act
• Income Tax Act
• Canada Elections Act
• Divorce Act

Treaties

• NAFTA
• FTAA (draft text)
• Extradition Act
• Agreement on Social Security Between Canada and the United States
• Canada-US Tax Treaty

Issues

• Impaired driving in Canada
  The permissible blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in Canada's Criminal Code is 0.08, or 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. For more information about impaired driving, the "legal limit", categories of related offences and criminal penalties, see:
  • Minister of Transport, David Collenette at the 16th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety, Montreal, Quebec August 5, 2002
  • Toward Eliminating Impaired Driving (report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, 1999) and the Government Response
  • The Alcohol-Crash Problem in Canada, 2000
  • Canada's Blood Alcohol Laws — an international perspective
    Study commissioned by the Canada Safety Council
  • STRID 2010-2001 Update (Strategy to Reduce Impaired Driving Task Force)
  • MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Canadian chapter
  • Information for Visitors with DWI convictions

• Understanding Canada's Firearms Laws
  • Read the fact sheets.
    How the Firearms Act Applies to Me If...
    • I own a firearm
    • Non-Residents entering Canada with Firearms
    • Gun owners moving to Canada
    • I sell, give, or trade a firearm to someone else
  • Firearms Act (legal text)
  • A history of firearms control
  • Registration
  • Applications, forms and other documents
  • Restricted firearms and prohibited firearms
  • Contact the Canadian Firearms Centre

International Criminal Court

• Canadian legislation implementing the ICC
• Crimes Against Humanity and the War Crimes Act
• Justice Canada's Backgrounder on the ICC
• Canada and the ICC
• Canada's War Crimes Program (October 11, 2002 news release)
• Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program 2001-2002 (Fifth Annual Report)

Scams

• Phonebusters
  Canada's national call centre facilitates prosecution of telemarketing fraud by Canadian and US authorities through extradition.
• Frauds, scams, and alerts (from the RCMP)
• National Fraud Information Center
• NFIC Online Complaint Form
• Internet Fraud Complaint Center
• Industry Canada Online Complaint Form

Crime Statistics

• Canadian crime statistics in 2002
• Crimes by type of offence
• Homicide offences
• Illegal drug offences
• Youth and adults charged by type of offence
• Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collison Statistics 2000
• Crime comparisons between Canada and the United States
• Profile of women offenders
• Number of police officers
• Justice spending per sector

Law Enforcement Agencies

• Solicitor General
  Comprised of four agencies, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canadian Security Intelligence Agency (CSIS), Correctional Services Canada (CSC) and the National Parole Board (NPB), the Solicitor General portfolio encompasses policing and law enforcement, national security, corrections and conditional release.
• Ontario Provincial Police
• Quebec Provincial Police *
• City police departments
  • Vancouver Police Department *
  • Saskatoon Police Department *
  • Regina Police Department *
  • Winnipeg Police Department *
  • Toronto Police Department *
  • Ottawa Police Department
  • Calgary Police Department *
  • Edmonton Police Department *
  • Montreal Police Department *
  • Halifax Police Department *
  • Fredericton Police Department
  • Charlottetown Police Department *
  • Newfoundland and Labrador Police Department *

Legal Services

• Service of Judicial Documents *
• Canadian Bar Association
• Canadian Law List *
• Duhaime's Law Dictionary *
• Process Servers *

*The hyperlinks marked with an asterisk link to sites that are not subject to the Official Languages Act and are not available in French.