Compartive Legal Systems Canada Vs Usa

Canada's Dominance over United States Penal System

Name: Shenthuran Vijayananthan

Teacher: Mrs. Merenda

Due Date: Wed. Oct. 26, 2005

Topic: #1 Ð'- Comparative Legal Systems (Canada vs. USA)

Thesis: Canada's criminal justice system, specifically laws dealing with punishment, is far superior to that of the United States

Canada and the United States of America are two neighboring countries who besides the border share numerous other key aspects. Though similar in beliefs and culture the two countries are far from alike. Their legal structure particularly the penal system is one of most significant boundaries between Canada and the United States. Though not perfect, it's absolutely clear that Canada has the far more superior legal system. Unlike the United States, Canada no longer practices capital punishment which is barbaric to say the least. Furthermore Canada's belief in conjunctive punishment is better with dealing with offenders than America's consecutive punishment. Finally Canada's goal to concentrate more on rehabilitating and educating criminals is far more effective and efficient in eradicating future crime then just incarcerating them.

There are two main types of law, Substantive and Procedural. Substantive law creates, defines and regulates rights and obligations of citizens; in contrast procedural law prescribes the manner to enforce rights and obligations. (Dickson) Substantive law divides into Public law which in turn breaks up into four other laws including criminal law. Criminal law outlines all the acts that are regarded as offences to society and it consists of the penal system. The penal system is comprised of sets of punishments and sentences pertaining to a specific crime. It includes the maximum number of years a lawbreaker can be sentenced to, depending on the type of crime and its severity. (Cavadino) The penal system serves as a guide for judges when they make their final decisions. Criminal law including the penal system is within federal jurisdiction for both countries with the only difference being that, in the USA individual states are allowed to adapt the criminal code in their own way and sentence offenders in their prospective as long it is within the guidelines of the criminal code. On the contrary, in Canada individual provinces and territories do not have the jurisdiction to punish criminals as they please; for example, in Canada the death penalty is prohibited in all parts of the country whereas in the states, capital punishment is practiced by only select states.

The death penalty or capital punishment is the ultimate sentence a judge can order. It's the execution of a convicted criminal either through lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging or by a firing squad only if requested by the inmate. (Bedau) In Canada during the period where capital punishment was in the criminal code, only hanging was ever utilized to carry out the execution. During the late 1800's capital punishment was popular in Canada and widely used as a penalty for murder and for number of less serious offences including administering poison, buggery with man or beast and injuring others during robbery. (Chandler) The early 1900's was a turning point for the death penalty in Canada; capital punishment began losing

momentum and was used only as sentence for murder, rape and treason. Finally, on July 14th 1976, after a heart moving historical speech by Pierre Elliot Trudeau, capital punishment was voted of the criminal code. (Campbell) Parliament came to its senses and realized how wrongful capital punishment really was thus replacing it with a life sentence, with an eligibility of parole after 25 years. Unlike the life sentence, the death penalty is not reversible. Once a person has been executed, there is no bringing them back consequently if it's later proved that the person actually did not commit the crime, an innocent person has been murdered. This is the vary thing the death penalty is trying to discourage and what criminal law as a whole stands for, to protect society. However, if a criminal is sentenced for life and their innocence is later proven, then they can simply be released from custody and compensated for every year they have spent in prison. Most importantly there are no statistics or proven facts that capital punishment deters and protects society from future criminals. In fact in 2004 Canada's homicide rate was 1.95 per 100,000 people (Statistics Canada); this was almost three times lower than that of the United States which came in at 5.6 per100 000 people (U.S. Department of Justice). Though there are other factors influencing homicide rate, it is still and indicator of the deficiency of capital punishment. Trudeau stated in his famous speech of 1976 "If we have reason to believe that hanging will protect society from murder and violent crime, if this cause or relation can be established then hanging is permissibleÐ'.....having looked at the debates and looked at the statistics now and the passed its obviously not establishedÐ'.....when human life is at stake you solve it in favor of life not death." (CBC Canada)

When it comes down to less serious crimes, Canada's penal system continues its dominance over that of America's. When a person is convicted for more than one crime at the same time they are given a conjunctive sentence in Canada whereas in the states they are given a consecutive sentence. Conjunctive sentencing allows the offender to pay back society for the two crimes during the same time period thus if someone is given two sentences of three years in prison, their debt to society is paid back at the same time as a result the offender spends three years in custody. Alternatively, the States utilize consecutive punishment were a person who is convicted of more then one crime will carry out their sentences one after another. Therefore if someone is given two sentences of three years they must spend six years in confinement. Consecutive punishment is unjust; if a person has committed multiple insignificant crimes such as trafficking marijuana and is forced to do their time one after another they have to spend many years behind bars. Consecutive punishments makes a mountain out of mole hill, it forces an inmate to waste their lives away in prison for a trivial matter. In modern day when prisons are becoming more and more crowded in both Canada and the States precious cells should not be wasted keeping inmates who committed