Courts and jurisdiction

In Canada there are many levels of the court system and they are as follows.

• • Provincial/Territorial courts

    • These courts hear issues involving federal and provincial/territorial law, which includes criminal cases, family law, the law and young people, traffic violations, provincial/territorial retaliatory offences, claims involving money.

• Provincial/Territorial superior courts

  • These courts hear cases of any area unless exempted by the constitution.

• Courts of Appeal

  • If a court case is appealed from the lower courts it comes here.

• Federal Courts

  • These courts are similar to provincial/territorial superior courts however, they hear cases of matters that fall under federal jurisdiction. This includes cases involving crown corporations like the CBC or VIA Rail.

• Specialized federal courts

  • In order to make the court system faster specialized federal courts exist to hear matters of a certain topic.

  • One type of federal court is the tax court which hears cases involving taxes.

  • Another type is military court which hears cases involving the Code of Service Discipline.

• The supreme court

  • This court is the highest court in Canada. It has jurisdiction over all areas of law and hears all final appeals. The court will also sometimes act as a adviser for the federal government for the legality of certain laws or proposals.

Source: (“Canada’s Court System,” n.d.)

Pictured above is a map of Canada's court system. Source: Canadian Department of Justice (justice.gc.ca)

Determining jurisdiction

As explained above each court has certain jurisdiction. The courts are awarded this jurisdiction by the the constitution of Canada. For example the constitution says the supreme court is the highest court of the land and that it hears every court, whereas the provincial/territorial courts are limited as to what cases they can hear. Some courts are also awarded jurisdiction by acts of parliament as is the case of the federal courts (“Canada’s Court System,” n.d.).

Source

Canada's Court System. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2015, from http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/ccs-ajc/page3.html