Civil (private) Law

1. Civil (private) Law

2. How does Civil Law differ from Criminal Law? • Criminal Law: • punish/rehabilitate offenders & protect society from harm • You vs. the Queen • Civil Law: • private citizens/organizations can sue for compensation after a harm has been done • You vs. other private citizen; or You vs. Company/Org./Govnt. • Major Areas of Civil Law: • Tort Law • Contract Law • Labour Law • Housing Law • Family Law

3. Tort Law • from Latin, tortus = wrong • the body of the law which will allow an injured/wronged person to sue whoever/whatever caused the injury/wrong • Gained popularityin 19th C. with the emergenceof negligence • Remember the snail case?!

4. Who’s involved? • The person suing is the plaintiff • The person being sued is the defendant • They are engaged in litigation • The plaintiff is seeking damages

5. How do judges/juries determine fault? Criminal Trial Civil Trial In a criminal trial, guilt must be established beyond a reasonable doubt In a civil trial, guilt is established by a balance of probabilities= judge/jury hear both sides and decide which version of the story seems more likely

6. Criminal and Civil cases compared

7. Can it be both Criminal and Civil? Criminal: Murder Attempted murder Etc… Civil: Victims families sue police for negligence

8. Courts for Civil Law high level civil courts are the same as for criminal law • Supreme Court and Court of Appeal but the low level civil courts are different • In criminal law, the low level court is the provincial court, whereas • In civil law, it is the small claims court

9. What is Small Claims Court? Simple Inexpensive Plain language No lawyers No jury Judge assess’ probability of both stories Maximum $$ value: 25,000 in BC Court staff can answer questions Truly the People’s Court!

10. Plaintiff must have cause of action: a valid reason for suing Shows plaintiffs (class action) Shows defendants Interesting: company suing a company… Shows multiple cause of action

11. A Class Action law suit Definition: a single lawsuit on behalf of multiple people with the same grievance. Benefits: Avoids hundreds/thousands of single cases People with similar grievances are treated similarly Eliminates barriers to justice, such as cost, that prevent people from pursuing legal action

12. Defendant Responses in a civil case • Defendants choose from several possible responses: • pay the claim in full to the court • submit a defense, summarizing reasons for disagreeing • make a counterclaim, blaming the plaintiff and seeking damages • enter a third party claim, stating that another party is partly or completely responsible • seek an out-of-court settlement, through negotiation • no response = default judgment in favour of the plaintiff

13. Scenario Options: Pay Defence Counterclaim 3rd party claim Out of court No response John and Jared are drinking at Jason’s house. Jason’s let’s his friends drink freely. Jared thought it would be funny to give his buddies pot cookies without telling them. Things started to get out of control the more people drank. Around 11, John decided to leave the party worried it was no longer safe. Jared had passed out on a couch. John decided to carry him out to his car and drive him home. While driving home, John looses control of his car and hits a tree. Both John and Jared were hurt to the point that they lost $25,000 in wages. Jared is suing John for the lost wages.

14. Civil Remedies: 5 kinds of damages • General Damages • for loss of future income, and cost of care • for pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life • Special Damages • for expenses the plaintiff incurred before the trial • e.g. medical bills, physio, wages already lost • Punitive Damages • additional damages for oppressive, insensitive, or maliciousbehaviour • rarely used if criminal penalties were imposed

15. Civil Remedies cont’d • Aggravated Damages • similar to punitive, but used when defendant’s behaviour is so outrageous that it causes harm to the plaintiff • aims to compensate the plaintiff • Nominal Damages • $1-100 awarded by the judge • to show the plaintiff’s moral victory when little harm was done • Injunctions • a non-monetary option! • instead, orders the defendant to do or not do a specified action

16. Witness how remedies differ… Civil remedies: why some not others? General damages Special damages Punitive damages Aggravated damages Nominal damages Injunctions

17. Most common tort: Negligence

18. The elements of negligence:

19. When is it negligent and when isn’t it?

20. When is it negligent and when isn’t it?

21. How do we test the severity of the Negligence?

22. Some Common Torts • Negligence: a person has a duty of care that they do not fulfill and harm results • Battery: unlawful and intentional touching of another person without consent; it is not necessary for there to be an injury for there to be harm – It starts at the point of genuine fear • False Imprisonment: confining a person in a specific area without their consent

23. Common Torts cont’d • Trespass to Land: entering another person’s land without permission or legal authority • Nuisance: one person’s unreasonable use of land (behaviour) interferes with the enjoyment/use of adjoining lands by others • Defamation of Character: an attack on a person’s reputation that is false, heard by others, and brings the person into ridicule, hatred or contempt