Lesson 1
 plaintiff (a person bringing a case against
someone else) must convince the judge
that her/his story is probably correct and
that the defendant’s hypothesis is wrong
 producing an evidence is called testimony
 bring in a witness to strengthen the
testimony
 witnesses are excluded from the court
while the testimony is happening, thus
the witnesses’ testimony is ‘untarnished’
 testimony = document, contract, invoice,
letter
 judicial admission — perfect as evidence
because it comes directly from defendant
himself/herself
 if someone apologizes (the story of how
director of a company apologized to a
consumer for a defect in a product) and if
it’s written in a letter (this is called: a
paper trail) this is regarded as an
admission
 avoid making negative comments about
your co-workers
 don’t share negative opinions about
someone in the company; say nothing
 beware of the person pretending to be
your friend who tries to extract negative
remarks about others
 never badmouth supervisors online
 silence and ‘I don’t know’ is the key
 Superior Court of Quebec deals with
criminal cases, divorce cases, civil
matters, commercial matters; it is also a
watch-dog (makes sure administrative
tribunals conduct affairs correctly)
 Quebec Court of Appeal (QCA)—approach
when unhappy by decision of the judge;
can overturn judge’s decision
 Supreme Court of Canada (the highest
court)—can declare that a judge in QCA
made a mistake; expensive
 judges must not be affected by the
judgments of people; must look at the
facts objectively
 Article 9.1—exercise freedom of religion
without undermining others’ safety
 Burden of proof—plaintiff makes proof
before the court + proves his/her case on
the balance of probabilities
 balance of probabilities—judge should
think: “In all probability you’re telling the
truth; facts probability happened; I think
plaintiff is probably right.”
 judge mustn’t be 100% convinced
 balance of probabilities—civil matters
 criminal matters: person is accused of
embezzling the bank…tax-evasion…red-
light…an accusation can result in a jail
sentence or a fine—balance of
probabilities standard no longer applies
 Queen is represented by crown
prosecutor
 the prosecutor must convince the jury or
the judge that the accused has committed
a crime
 the prosecutor must convince that the
guilt of the accused is beyond a
reasonable doubt
 criminal matters—beyond a reasonable
doubt
 if judge is not quite sure about the proof,
if there is a reasonable doubt—if the
judge doubts the witness’ testimony—
then the accused must be freed
 civil matters = money, property
 criminal matters = human liberty; thus,
the consequences are different; customs
are given authority to deny entry; one can
apply for a pardon; pardon maybe
applicable in Canada but not in the US,
therefore even if someone is granted a
pardon in Canada, the US customs may
not permit him/her to enter the country