Lawyers, Judges, Statutory Interpretation

Question 1

True or false there was no formal university level law school pre 1950s

Answer 1

True

Question 2

How many law schools are there in Canada

Answer 2

Now 24 law schools in Canada (2024)

Question 3

What determines eligibility into law school

Answer 3

Eligibility determined by GPA and the Law
School Admissions Test (LSAT)

Question 4

What was the academic study of law designed to supplement …

Answer 4

Legal apprenticeship (articling);

this means that the academia part of law school was developed to support and enhance the practical training of future lawyers

Question 5

Articling

Answer 5

a law student’s period of apprenticeship under supervision of a licensed lawyer

Question 6

What is a Juris Doctor

Answer 6

After completing law school successful students receive their JD

Question 7

Lawyer

Answer 7

someone who has the legal recognition to practice law

Question 8

Roles/Functions of Lawyers:

Answer 8

• provides legal representation
• prosecute and defend suspected offenders
• establish legal arguments
• offer legal advice
• act as trustees
• legal research, legal drafting
• advocacy, negotiate, draft contracts

Question 9

Law Society

Answer 9

a provincial association that licenses lawyers to practice

Question 10

Roles/Functions of Law Societies

Answer 10

• Establish standards
• Collect annual feels from membership
• Provide legal aid
• Provide insurance to members
• Discipline lawyers + approve law schools

Question 11

The Canadian Bar Association

Answer 11

• Shaped information about the practice
• Offers networking + professional development opportunities
• Represents interests of Canada’s legal community
• established in 2009 replaced the 1920 guide for ethical standards of lawyers

Question 12

Federation of Law Societies of Canada

Answer 12

The national association of Canada’s provincial legal societies

Question 13

Roles/Functions of Federation of Law Societies of Canada

Answer 13

• regulated Canada’s legal profession
• shares information across law societies
• facilitates national collaboration

Question 14

CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

Answer 14

• Canadian Bar Association’s Code of Professional Conduct
• Federation of Law Societies Model Code of Professional Conduct

Question 15

CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT INCLUDES

Answer 15

• standards on issues of competence, quality of service, confidentiality
• conflicts of interest
• preservation of clients’ property/disbursements
• withdrawal from representation
• marketing/advertising of legal services

Question 16

Disbarment

Answer 16

removal from the bar and membership of law society terminated

• Lawyers can also be reprimanded in others ways (firing, suspensions from practice)

Question 17

Roles/Functions of Judges & THE LAW

Answer 17

• administer the law
• preside over the legal process
• make important legal decisions
• sentence offenders
• interpret law + establish case law

Question 18

Federal Judges Are Appointed By

Answer 18

cabinet (Minster of Justice) with assistance of a Judicial Advisory Committee

Question 19

Canadian Judicial Council

Answer 19

oversees Canada’s federal judges

• consists of 41 members; chaired by the Chief Justice of Canada

Question 20

Statutory Interpretation

Answer 20

Judges are expected to interpret ambiguous legislative statues in terms of their:

i) wording schemes
ii) object of the act
iii) intent of the act

Question 21

2 General Approaches in Statutory Interpretation

Answer 21

i) British tradition
ii) European/US version

Question 22

Statutes Include

Answer 22

definition sections to reduce statutory interpretation

Question 23

3 Rules of Statutory Interpretation

Answer 23

i) Plain meaning rule
ii) Golden rule
iii) Mischief rule

Question 24

3 Grammatical Principles of Statutory Interpretation

Answer 24

i) Exclusive terminology
ii) Combining similar kinds
iii) Defining in relation to similar concepts

Question 25

Plain Meaning Rule

Answer 25

considers the textual meaning, words given their plain, ordinary and literary meaning

Question 26

Golden Rule

Answer 26

involves modifying the ordinary meaning of words to avoid an absurd result

Question 27

Mischief Rule

Answer 27

considers legislative intent read a statute in light of the “mischief” or “evil”—the problem that prompted the statute

Question 28

What is Used to Determine Legislative Intent

Answer 28

Both legislative history and case law

Question 29

Judicial Activism

Answer 29

term used to characterize more active judicial interpretation of legislation

Question 30

Precedent

Answer 30

a judgement/decision of a court of law cited as an authority for similar cases

Question 31

Stare decisis

Answer 31

'to stand by decided things'

Question 32

Precedent Results in

Answer 32

a more dynamic legal system, but also more predictable one

Question 33

Problems With Precedent

Answer 33

i) when it takes priority over the intention of a statue ii) when it self-binds a court

Question 34

Gorris v. Scott

Answer 34

- Sottish case - Pertaining to the mischief rule - do a defendant’s negligent acts have to relate directly to the statute’s purposes in order for the plaintiff to recover damages (yes)

Question 35

About how many practicing lawyers are there in Canada

Answer 35

136 000

Question 36

The 2 aspects of the legal world are…

Answer 36

1. litigation 2. solicitation

Question 37

What area of law does the federation of law societies deal with

Answer 37

Administrative law

Question 38

How many federally appointed judges are there in Canada

Answer 38

1,180

Question 39

What percentage of federally appointed judges are there in Canada

Answer 39

45%

Question 40

True or false Canada has moved closer to the American model of judicial review

Answer 40

True