The Machinery of Justice

• Author: Norman J. Groot
• Pages: 3-12

CHAPTER

1

THE

MACHINERY

OF

JUSTICE

This review

of the

Canadian machinery

of

justice will

briefly

touch upon such issues

as

the

types,

systems,

and

sources

of law in

Canada,

and the

Canadian court structure.

1.1

WHAT

IS

LAW?

Before

determining

who

makes

laws,

it is

important

to

know what

is a

law. Positive

law has

been defined

as a

body

of

rules

for

which

sanctions

are

imposed

upon

their

breach.

But

this definition, although

useful,

is not

complete,

for the

enforcement

of

rules must

be the

responsibility

of

government

and not of

private persons. Thus,

a

restaurant owner

who

makes

a

rule that

men

will

not be

admitted

to

dinner unless they wear neckties

and

jack-

ets

has not

made

a

law.

Nor are the

rules

of a

private organization, such

as a

private inves-

tigator association, considered law.

A

private investigator association

may

impose

effective

sanctions such

as fining or

expelling

a

member

who

breaks

an

important club rule,

but its

rules amount

to no

more than

a

private arrangement among club members.

1.1.1

Substantive

and

Procedural

Law

Dividing

law

into broad categories helps

us to

understand

the

legal system.

The two

most

basic categories

are

substantive

and

procedural

law.

Substantive

law

consists

of the rights and

duties that each person

has in

society. Some

examples

are the right to own

property,

to

vote,

to

travel about

the

country unmolested,

to

enter

into

contracts,

to

sell

or

give

away property;

the

duty

to

avoid injuring others,

to

per-

form

contract obligations,

and to

obey

traffic

laws, customs regulations,

and

other laws.

The

substantive laws

are

further

divided into

the fields

of

public

law and

private

law, refe

rred

to

below.

Procedural

law

deals with

the

protection

and

enforcement

of

these

rights and

duties.

Thus, substantive laws decide which

of two or

more parties

is at

fault

in an

automobile

accident,

but it is

through procedural laws that

the

injured

party obtains

a

remedy against

the

wrongdoers. Procedural

law

prescribes

the

machinery

by

which

the rights and

duties

recognized

by

substantive

law are

actually realized

and

enforced.

3