Introduction

• Author: John Mark Keyes/Wendy Gordon
• Pages: 11-14

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Introduction

What Is This Book About?

is book is about an important type of law in Canada: legislation.

It operates as part of Canada’s legal system along with other types

of law, such as common law, international law, parliamentary law,

and Indigenous legal traditions. ese various types of law operate

together to make up the legal system that governs people in Canada.

e book is divided into two parts.

Part One, comprising chapters  to , describes how legislation is

written (“drafted”) and given the force of law (“enacted”). is intro-

duction provides a general overview of what legislation is and what it

does within the legal system. It forms the basis for a detailed consider-

ation of how legislation comes into being as the product of an activity

called “drafting” (Chapter One: What Is Drafting?) that is carried

out in particular ways (Chapter Two: How Is Legislation Drafted?).

e following chapter looks at how draft legislation is transformed

into law (Chapter ree: How Is Draft Legislation Turned Into Law?).

Part Two, comprising chapters  to , considers how, once trans-

formed into law, legislation functions within Canada’s legal system.

It begins with an account of how it operates generally (Chapter Four:

What Is Legislation Used For? and Chapter Five: How Is Legislation