法律英语：33 Canadian Law Differ From U.S. Law

Hello, and welcome to Legal Lad’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Lawful¹ Life. I’m your host, Adam Freedman.

But first, your daily dose of legalese: This podcast does not create an attorney-client relationship with any listener. In other words, although I am a lawyer, I’m not your lawyer. In fact, we barely know each other. If you need personalized legal advice, contact an attorney in your community.

Last episode, we discussed the Declaration of Independence. This week: we turn our gaze northwards, where our neighbors have just finished celebrating Canada Day -- or the Fete du Canada, as they say in Quebec.

Is Canadian Law Similar to U.S. Law?

Ariel, who is “an avid² listener from Montreal, Quebec,” writes: “I was wondering how many of the issues you discuss in your episodes (or, how many of the things I see in Law and Order) apply to Canada?”

That is an excellent question, Ariel. But then, I would expect nothing less from an avid listener to Legal Lad. When it comes to comparing Canadian and U.S. law, I can only skim the surface. But the short answer is that many of the issues I discuss in this podcast -- and many of the things you see in Law and Order -- apply in Canada, since Canadian law is generally derived³ from the same common law principles as U.S. law.

And speaking of money, I wanted to let you know that Quick and Dirty Tips recently added a new podcast – the Winning Investor⁴.  Each week, financial expert Andrew Horowitz teaches the basics of investing so you can weather market volatility⁵ and maximize your investment returns.

The Canadian Constitution

On July 1, Canadians celebrate “Canada Day,” which commemorates⁶ the enactment⁷ of the British North America Act of 1867, which was the first step towards full Canadian independence. The final step occurred in 1982, when Canada adopted its own Constitution.

So that’s one point of similarity: each country has a written constitution. Whereas the U.S. Constitution has a “Bill of Rights” appended to the end of it, the Canadian Constitution has a “Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” The Canadian Charter guarantees virtually the same individual rights as the US version, except, notably⁸, the “right to bear arms.”

In addition to individual rights, the Canadian Charter includes a number of “group rights.” These include linguistic⁹ and cultural rights for the French Canadian populations in Quebec and New Brunswick, as well as rights for aboriginal¹⁰ groups. The concept of group rights doesn’t really have recognition in US law.

English Common Law

The day to day law governing things like contracts and negligence¹¹ in most Canadian provinces is very similar to that found in the United States. The reason is that both the American and Canadian legal systems spring from the same source: English common law.

One important exception is the province of Quebec -- which by the way is where Ariel, an avid listener to this podcast, lives. Because of its French heritage, Quebec retained some elements of the French civil law tradition. In the U.S., Louisiana also has a French (and Spanish) legal heritage, some of which remains¹² in force, but without the type of constitutional protection that Canada gives to Quebec.

Differences Between U.S. and Canadian Law

Despite these similarities, there are many areas where the law of the U.S. and Canada differ. For example, in Canada, juries are almost exclusively used for criminal cases, whereas in the U.S., juries often are used for non-criminal cases.   Employment law is also different. The U.S. concept of “employment at will” -- that is, an employee can be dismissed for no reason and with no notice, is apparently¹³ non-existent in Canada. You either have to give your employee a reason why you’re dismissing him, or give him advance notice.   One other notable difference: same-sex marriage is legal throughout Canada.

Canadian Law and Order?

As for criminal law, well, the drama you see in Law and Order is analogous¹⁴ to the Canadian criminal justice system, but there are differences. For example, in the U.S., prosecutors¹⁵ act in the name of “the people” whereas Canadian prosecutors act in the name of “the Crown.” You see, although it is an independent nation, Canadians chooses to have the British Queen as their sovereign. Thus, the famous opening line of Law and Order would have to be translated to “In the criminal justice system, the Crown is represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the Mounted Police who investigate crime and the Public Prosecutors who prosecute¹⁶ the offenders¹⁷.  These are their stories.”

The episodes in Law and Order center on a group of New York city cops and prosecutors; many of the storylines involve jurisdictional¹⁸ clashes with neighboring states (like when a suspect flees to New Jersey) or with federal agents. That type of turf battle is much less common in Canada, which has a single criminal code that applies to all provinces, and that is administered by the federal Public Prosecution¹⁹ Service.

The substance and terminology²⁰ of criminal law is much the same in the two countries, owing to the influence of English common law. That applies even in Quebec because, again, Canada has a single criminal code. One notable difference is that Canadian lawyers don’t refer to the judge as Your Honor, but rather, My Lord. Hard to imagine Jack²¹ McCoy saying that.

Ariel, thanks for the question and keep listening!

You can send questions and comments to..............or call them in to the voicemail line at 206-202-4LAW.  Please note that doing so will not create an attorney-client relationship and will be used for the purposes of this podcast only.

 

1 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

2 avid   

adj.热心的；贪婪的；渴望的；劲头十足的

参考例句：

• He is rich,but he is still avid of more money.他很富有,但他还想贪图更多的钱。
• She was avid for praise from her coach.那女孩渴望得到教练的称赞。

3 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

5 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

6 commemorates   

n.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的名词复数 )v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A tombstone is erected in memory of whoever it commemorates. 墓碑是为纪念它所纪念的人而建的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A tablet commemorates his patriotic activities. 碑文铭记他的爱国行动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 enactment   

n.演出，担任…角色；制订，通过

参考例句：

• Enactment refers to action.演出指行为的表演。
• We support the call for the enactment of a Bill of Rights.我们支持要求通过《权利法案》的呼声。

8 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

9 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

10 aboriginal   

adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的

参考例句：

• They managed to wipe out the entire aboriginal population.他们终于把那些土著人全部消灭了。
• The lndians are the aboriginal Americans.印第安人是美国的土著人。

11 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 analogous   

adj.相似的；类似的

参考例句：

• The two situations are roughly analogous.两种情況大致相似。
• The company is in a position closely analogous to that of its main rival.该公司与主要竞争对手的处境极为相似。

15 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

16 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

17 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

18 jurisdictional   

adj. 司法权的，裁决权的，管辖权的

参考例句：

• In practice, however, this jurisdictional limit on administrative investigations is generally easy to satisfy. 然而在实践中，对行政调查的这种司法限制通常很容易符合规定标准。
• The jurisdictional amount is set by statute and is currently $80,000. 案件标的管辖权由法律规定，目前是80，000美元。 来自口语例句

19 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

20 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。

21 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。