What is Civil Law?

The chart you made on the last page is a pretty good start of a definition. Civil law jurisdiction includes:

• the legal relationships between individuals
• an avenue for settling disputes between individuals
• remedies for wrongs against individuals, rather than punishment or retribution for wrongs against society

Note that Civil Law is within the jurisdiction of the provincial governments.

Civil Law is also known as private law. In most of Canada, Civil Law is based primarily upon the system of common law (except in the province of Quebec, where the Civil Code is the basis for civil law), although civil statutes have been developed by provincial jurisdictions as governments deem then necessary for the public good.

The main purpose of civil law is to compensate individuals for wrongs commited to them. Claims can include injuries to an individual resulting from accidents, damage to property or reputation, divorce, child custody and support, adoption, unpaid debts, and failure to pay for work.

Activity

Let's say that Audrey sues Donita for negligence because of an injury that occurred to Audrey's child while Donita was babysitting her. Given that civil law is based primarily on common law, what would a judge refer to in order to determine whether Donita's actions constituted negligence? Study the list of examples of claims above. Brainstorm a list of situations that occur in which someone says "Hey, that's not fair!" or "You've done me wrong!" Which of these do you think could become a civil suit?