Section 2

Lesson 3: A Look at the Courts

Imagine that you lent someone your skis, poles, and boots for a weekend in the mountains, and then he or she refused to give them back. You might want to take this person to court in a civil action, but would you know which court to use.

If you decided to fight a speeding ticket, would you know in which court your trial would take place?

There are a number of different courts in the Canadian court system, and this lesson will give you a very basic overview of what each one is called and what kinds of cases it hears.

Alberta's Courts

To begin with, there are two systems of courts in Canada:

1) the federal system of courts, operated by the federal government, and

2) the provincial/territorial system, operated by the various provincial and territorial governments. The provincial systems are more or less the same throughout the country, but sometimes labels change; what follows describes the Alberta system.

The Provincial Court

At the bottom level of Alberta's court system is the Provincial Court.

The Provincial Court is split into the following five divisions:

Criminal Division. All criminal cases in Alberta begin in the Provincial Court, Criminal Division; and most end up being tried here. Some more serious cases, after a preliminary hearing in this court, are tried in a high court.

Civil Division. Also known informally as Small Claims Court, the Provincial Court, Civil Division is where civil cases involving amounts of money of $25,000 or less are usually tried, though some sorts of cases, regardless of the amount involved, must go to a higher court.

Family Division. Family Court, as it's often called, hears cases involving disputes between husbands and wives along with a variety of other issues involving domestic relations (except for divorce, which goes to the Court of Quee's Bench).

Youth Division. Youth Court deals with young people charged with criminal offenses under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Traffic Division. As its name implies, Traffic Court deals principally with traffic violations, though it also handles violations of other provincial statutes and municipal bylaws.

Test Yourself:

Name the division of Alberta's Provincial Court in which each of the following cases would be tried:
1. Amanda decides to fight a parking ticket.
2. Yves designs a web page for a local company and never gets paid.
3. Raquel's landlord refuses to return her security deposit, even though she had left her apartment in perfect condition.
4. Justin is charged with public mischief.
5. Louise is fighting with her former husband over custody of their children.
6. Khalid is arrested for shoplifting three CDs.
7. Ling, aged 15, faces charges of break and enter.
8. Madison refuses to pay a car-rental company for the damaged bumper on the vehicle she rented.
9. Josh is fined by his municipality for allowing his unlicensed dog to run free.

Turn to the Suggested Answers at the end of this lesson and compare your answers with the ones given there.

The Court of Queen's Bench

The second level of courts in Alberta is the Court of Queen's Bench. This court is a court of first instance for civil cases that are beyond the jurisdiction of the Provincial Court.

While all criminal cases begin in Provincial Court, the more serious ones normally end up being tried in the Court of Queen's Bench.

As well as being a court of first instance for serious cases, the Court of Quee's Bench hears appeals from the Provincial Court. This means that if you lose a case in Provincial Court and you appeal the decision, the appeal would be heard at this level (though in cases involving indictable offenses, appeals from Youth Court go straight to the Court of Appeal).

Indictable offense:

The Court of Appeal

The highest-level court in Alberta is the Court of Appeal. As its name suggests, this is an appeal court only - original trials never take place in this court.

Here, a panel of three or more judges hear lawyers argue points of law that relate to cases that have been appealed to this level from the Court of Queen's Bench or, sometimes, Provincial Court.

If this court decides against you, the only appeal left is to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The diagram that follows illustrates the courts of Alberta in a visual format that may help you keep them straight.

Though the focus here is on the various Alberta courts and their roles, you might be interested in a look inside an actual courtroom. The following diagram shows a courtroom during a civil trial.

Federal Courts

Along with the various provincial and territorial court systems, Canada also has a federal court system, though it's much smaller and simpler. It consists essentially of two levels:

the Federal Court o. Canada (which has both a trial division and an appeal division)
the Supreme Court of Canada

The Federal Court of Canada

The Federal Court of Canada is a specialized court dealing with cases concerning the federal government-such as taxation problems or disputes between the provinces.

Cases involving trademarks, patents, and copyright also come before the Federal Court of Canada.

This court has both a Trial Division, where cases are first heard, and a Court of Appeal. So if a case originally heard in the Trial Division of the Federal Court is appealed, the appeal is heard in the Federal Court of Appeal. Any appeals b eyond this level go to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Test Yourself:

2. In the spring of 1997 a national lobby group called the Council of Canadians launched an appeal to the Federal Court of Canada concerning the takeover of many Canadian newspapers by the company called Hollinger Inc. The Council of Canadians felt that Hollinge's control of Southam, the countr's largest chain of newspapers, would restrict freedom of the press in Canada.

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the Council of Canadians had waited too long before launching its review and refused to hear the appeal. The Council now has the right to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

a. Why would the Council of Canadians launch its appeal through the Federal Court of Appeal?

b. If most of the newspapers in Canada were owned by the same person or company, what danger is posed to news coverage in the country?

Turn to the Suggested Answers at the end of this lesson and compare your answers with the ones given there.

The Supreme Court of Canada

The highest court in the land is the Supreme Court of Canada. This court is an appeal court only; it hears appeals of cases from both the Federal Court of Appeal and the Court of Appeal of each province and territory.

You have already seen a diagram of Albert's court system. What follows is a diagram of both the provincial and federal court systems.

Lesson 3: A Look at the Courts - Alberta Courts

Public Law