Evaluating the Success and Failure of the Four Constitutions Canada Had Prior to Confederation

FIFTH TIME'S A CHARM? Evaluating the Success and Failure of the Four Constitutions Canada Had Prior to Confederation Prior to the British North America Act of 1867, the British government made four failed attempts to govern their colonies in North America. Finally, in 1846, they got the point and gave in -- they ordered the Governors of all of their colonies to accept responsible party government. The British government no longer wanted the hassle, the cost, nor the responsibility of their colonies, because, simply put, they no longer had any use for the colonies. Britain was moving in the direction toward free trade, so the colonies would not have a favoured spot in the economy, as they did in the old mercantilist system.1 Twenty one years after the colonial secretary ordered the acceptance of responsible party government, Canada became a nation of its own -- finally, the Canadians did something the British had hoped they would do. The British North America Act was to be our constitution for over one hundred years: it lasted longer than all four of the other constitutional attempts put together. Each one of these acts, in one way or another, was intended to assimilate the French Canadiens and harmonize the colony, and each one, in turn, failed. The Royal Proclamation Act of 1763, passed shortly after the end of the Seven Years War, lasted eleven years until 1774,

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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The Concepts and Reality of Punishment

The Concepts and Reality of Punishment The concepts and reality of punishment has evolved over the years through official government channels and social pressures. The publics opinion of crime and punishment is finely balanced and can tip the scales of justice in either direction with society demanding harsher sentencing or calling for leniency depending on the crimes, the criminal or period in society. This essay outlines concepts of past punishments and new judiciary concepts that have evolved, the realities of these changes, and what they mean to both the criminals and society in general. Punishment could be said to be societies retribution, which is solely concerned with punishment for committing a particular offence; the Old Testament way of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and a life for a life', is still much beloved by today's hangers and floggers. Essentially, revenge is, to a degree, a crude form of sentencing in that there is no element of compassion or understanding of the offender or indeed a desire to reform him. Nowadays, the concept of retribution is almost dismissed However, during the 1980s, there was public concern at what was being perceived as the punishment not fitting the crime, and the idea of retribution came back into fashion, where it quietly remains an important factor in sentencing of the most serious offences. The Government is

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Can the Islamic approach to Human Rights be compatible withthe current International Human Rights Doctrine?

Can the Islamic approach to Human Rights be compatible with the current International Human Rights Doctrine? . Introduction This essay outlines one of the biggest and burning issues insofar toward the universal human rights: can the Islamic approach to human rights be compatible with the current international human rights doctrine? As an entitled notion with the religion of Islam, which has the second biggest in number of the followers worldwide, its approach to human rights is definitely crucial. Islamic human rights copes such a large area of thought, but this essay much more likely to focus the discussion on the idea of the Islamic women's rights. The main argument is that pure Islamic approach to human rights, especially to women's rights, can not be compatible with the current international human rights doctrine. However, its approach to human rights, include women rights, might much more sustainable internally of the Moslem society. Fairly, my position is not pretending to provide any problem resolving or to justify anything, but to tease out some of the possibly conflicting notions that are tie up with human discussing on this issue. In order to do that, we will begin by making such an overview on the context of international human rights doctrine, and then go through along the existence of human rights in Islamic perspective, and finally come up with the examining

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Have the period since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was approved favored the children and has it been an actual improvement on their situation throughout the world?

Maite Valdes 28/02/02 EXTENDED ESSAY CHILDREN'S RIGHTS RESEARCH QUESTION Have the period since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was approved favored the children and has it been an actual improvement on their situation throughout the world? Is the nowadays condition of the children what was approved in 1989? 191 countries all over the globe out of the existing 193 nations approved the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on November the 20th, 1989. This makes it the nearly universally ratified human rights treaty in history1. The United States, which did sign this agreement, but never ratified it; and Somalia, which cannot ratify as it has not got an internationally recognized government, are the only two countries in the world that did not sign the agreement. This international treaty meant that the rights of the children throughout the world were going to be ensured not matter what culture, religion, sex, or social class they belong to and that more emphasis was going to be put on improving the living standard of the children. Although the welfare of all the children was the aim of these countries, not all of them have applied these Rights of the Child strictly. Nowadays, there are still children who do not benefit from these rights, and see them as privileges of the richest countries, or, in some cases, some of them do not

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Describe Jury Trial within the English legal system. How effective is Trial by jury? consider any alternatives and suggest improvements.

Describe Jury Trial within the English legal system. How effective is Trial by jury? consider any alternatives and suggest improvements. Part 1- Describe Jury Trial within the English Legal system A Trial by Jury is one of the oldest traditions, and is seen as a cornerstone in the English Legal System as it developed from the Anglo-Saxon judicial custom. In the English legal system it is seem as such a major feature because it allows people to be judged by their peers rather than by judges whom the majority of people consider to be middle class and middle minded. Opportunities for bias are also eliminated as it has been proven to be a system that works well and that is respected by the majority of people in society. Surprisingly England stands almost alone in the fact that it uses juries apart from France who are the only other country in Europe that use juries. Still in France juries are only used in the most serious of cases. To sit on a jury the person must be aged between 18 and 70 (previously 65 until Justice Act 1988, section 119) and also to become eligible to vote the person must be registered on the electoral register under the Juries Act 1974. Also the person must have been a resident of the UK, Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for at least 5 years. However there are further requirements that may rule certain people out from sitting on a jury these are certain

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  • Subject: Law
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Public law - Acts of parliament

Public law course work Acts of parliament are considered to be the highest form of law in England. The reason for this is constitutional. Under England's unwritten constitution, parliament is seen as sovereign. As a result, its enacted will, in the form of Acts of parliament, cannot be challenged in the courts. However, in practice there are legal, political and moral limitations on this sovereignty, which will be discussed in some detail in the following pages. An act of parliament is to be always obeyed, even if the act conflicts with common law [Burmah oil Co v Lord Advocate {1965} A.C 75]. Here, the H.L held that where private property was taken or destroyed under the royal prerogative, the owner was entitled at common law to compensation from the crown. However, parliament reversed this decision by enacting the War Damages Act 1965. It provided that no person should be entitled at common law to receive compensation in respect of damage to or destruction of property caused by lawful acts of the crown during the outbreak of a war in which the sovereign is engaged. As a result of this act, Burmah Oil was no longer entitled to compensation, which would have been its common law right. It is now recognised that it is only the Acts of Parliaments that have legal sovereignty. The court will not allow a mere resolution of the House of Commons. Parliament does have

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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The role and appointment of judges.

Judges a) The judge in a criminal case is responsible for all matters of law, and for making sure that all the rules of procedure are properly applied. Before the criminal trial starts, the judge looks over the details of the case by reading the case papers. He/she may have been involved in pre trial matters such as whether to grant bail or not and the plea and directions hearing. At the start of the trial he/she supervises the selection and swearing in of the jury and explains to them what their role is. The judge is active during the trial, controlling the way the case is conducted according to the rules of evidence and procedure; he will make sure all parties involved are given the opportunity for their case to be presented and considered. As the case progresses the judge makes notes of the evidence and makes any necessary decisions on legal issues e.g. if the evidence is admissible; if not he/she will tell the jury to ignore that evidence. Once all evidence in the case has been heard, the judge makes his/her summing up to the jury. The judge sets out the law on each of the charges made and what the prosecution must prove if the jury are to find the defendant guilty on each charge. He/she will outline the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments for both prosecution and defence and remind the jury of the key points of the case. He will then answer any questions or

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Is any act of statutory interpretation a arbitrary choice by a judge?

In what way can the different 'rules' of statutory interpretation be understood as forming a coherent process of interpretation, or is any act of statutory interpretation an arbitrary choice by a judge? It has been said that there are three 'rules' of statutory interpretation - the literal, the golden, and the mischief rule. It is clear that contrary to the label of 'rules' widely given to them, they are more sensibility regarded as approaches. The moot point has rather been on the way judges utilize these three approaches. Do they give each one equal consideration in a religious way, or do they simply use them as post hoc justification to their decisions? In looking for an answer to the question of how judges interpret statutes, history would always prove to be an appropriate source to start with. The English legal history starts with the defeat of the Saxon king by Norman William the Conqueror in 1066. At that point, law, if any, was transmitted in the form of local customs, informal and merely used for the practical end of enforcing compensation in order to preventing bloodshed. It is largely agreed by historians that William left the laws alone. Nevertheless, gradually local customs gave way to one unified body of laws. In a contest for power with the church's courts and the attempt to centralize power, King Henry II, great-grandson of William, soon after his accession

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Rules of Causation Case. Jess throws paint in Sams eyes. Sam had to go to hospital to have paint removed from his eyes. On the way home, just before his sight was fully recovered, he tripped on the kerb and fractured his skull.

Jess throws paint in Sam's eyes. Sam had to go to hospital to have paint removed from his eyes. On the way home, just before his sight was fully recovered, he tripped on the kerb and fractured his skull. - Outline the rules of causation and briefly discuss whether Jess caused Sam's fractured skull (7 marks) Once it has been established that the defendant performed the act, the prosecution must prove that it was the defendant's conduct which caused those consequences to occur. The prosecution has to show that the defendant's conduct was the factual cause of that consequence, the defendant's conduct was in law the cause of that consequence and there was no intervening act which broke the chain of causation. There are two types of causation, factual causation, the defendant can only be guilty if the consequences would not have happened but for this act. An example of this is, R v Pagett, the defendant used his girlfriend as a human shield against police fire. He shot at the police, they fired back, killing his girlfriend. But for his actions she wouldn't have died. This relates to the scenario because but for Jess throwing paint in Sam's eyes, he would not have been partly sighted and tripped on the kerb resulting in a fractured skull. Causation in law, the defendant's actions must be the operating and substantial cause. An example of this is, R v Smith, two soldiers were

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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The task of the jury is to weigh up the evidence presented to them and decide on what is true. The judge will direct the jury on points of law but decisions of fact are for them alone to decide.

Assignment 2.12 The jury system was imported to Britain after the Norman Conquest, though its early functions were quite different from what it is today. The first jurors acted as witness providing information local matters and were mainly used for administrative business such as gathering information for the Doomsday Book. Later under Henry II, the jury began to take on an important judicial function, moving from reporting on events they knew about, to deliberating on evidence produced by the parties' involved in a dispute. Slowly it became accepted that a juror should know as little as possible about the facts of the case before the trial, and this the case today. A major change in the history of the Jury was the case of Bushell's case (1670). Before this, judges would try to bully juries into convicting the defendant particularly where the case had crime involved. But in this case it was established that the jury were the sole judges of fact, with the right to give a verdict according to their conscience, and could not be punished for taking a different view to the judges. The task of the jury is to weigh up the evidence presented to them and decide on what is true. The judge will direct the jury on points of law but decisions of fact are for them alone to decide. In a criminal case, the judge decides on the appropriate sentence; in a civil case the jury will decide what

  • Word count: 1556
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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