A Quick Guide to Canadian Justice System

Happy August to all our readers—except Jonathon Jessica Yaniv Simpson. We get a lot of questions about how Canadian law works, so one of us has put together this handy guide for various organizations.

THE CANADIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

In 2023, JYS and Miriam had many court dates for criminal matters. Upon the news of their cases being posted on Meow Mix, it seems everybody has become a lawyer or expert in the Canadian legal system. To people from outside Canada, you might make the mistake of taking these people’s comments and postings as truth. This article is written to show how the system functions and the basics of the Canadian Criminal Justice System; NO LEGAL ADVICE is being offered or implied (eg we are not Yaniv, the fake lawyer) it is simply a basic overview of the system. This article was written a few months ago, but we couldn’t publish it until the latest JYS criminal trial was over. I want to thank those individuals from various fields in the criminal justice system for their help in this article.

CRIMINAL CODE OF CANADA
The CCC (Criminal Code of Canada) is the federal law defining most criminal offences the Federal Government has enacted through Parliament. Unlike our neighbours to the south (USA), where states have their own penal codes and a Federal one as well, in Canada, committing crime anywhere is a federal offence.

HEAD OF STATE
In Canada, the Prime Minister is the head of the government, and the Monarch is the head of State. That’s why, in criminal matters, it shows up as:

“R” vs REX vs HMTK
HIS MAJESTY THE KING
Rex is Latin for King. Before King Charles, it was Queen Elizabeth, whose Latin title would have been Regina, aka Queen.
Crimes committed in Canada are not against the monarch but all of society, so a trial will never say the victim’s name vs the accused.

B.C. COURTS
BC has three levels of courts.

BC PROVINCIAL COURT
Most criminal matters are heard in BC provincial court. Even those charged with serious matters (Indictable offences) conduct preliminary hearings in provincial court before being sent to the BC Supreme Court. The Provincial Court also conducts bail hearings.
SUPREME COURT OF BC
Serious offences are heard and tried in the BC Supreme Court. This court also hears appeals from lower-level courts. All jury trials take place in the BC Supreme Court.
BC COURT OF APPEAL
The highest court in BC is the Court of Appeal; it also hears appeals from the BC Provincial Court and Supreme Court.
JUDGES
Unlike some places in the USA, judges are not elected to the bench but are appointed. The provincial government appoints provincial court judges. Even though the Province appoints them, they must still follow the Criminal Code of Canada.
Supreme And Appeal Court judges are appointed by the Federal government
THE CROWN
In Canada, the prosecutor is called the Crown, representing the state vs. the accused. Just like judges, they are not elected.
DEFENCE COUNSEL
Canada uses an adversary system of justice where the accused has a right to a lawyer to represent them. This fact is not lost on JYS as he often tries to get other people’s lawyers tossed out, yet he has always found one to represent him in his criminal trials. Many people express disgust as defence lawyers, but they are important to the system. To quote a famous Canadian lawyer, “My job is to defend the devil, if the devil gets a fair trial, the rest of us are granted a fair trial.”
Recently, there was a murder trial in Vancouver where defence counsel started receiving threats of death, violence and somebody allegedly brought a gun into the courtroom. However, that is the job of a defence lawyer, and as former Attorney General Wally Oppal said a few weeks ago, Lawyer will defend their clients vigorously and in a murder trial the consequences are huge. In that case, the lawyer even told the jury he was not out to make friends but just to defend the accused.

SHERRIFS
In BC, the Sheriff’s Service is responsible for courtroom security and the transportation of prisoners. They are peace officers, but not police officers.

SENTENCING
Judges have plenty of leeway on sentencing individuals, with the exception of certain crimes with mandatory sentences, most other sentences are at the discretion of the judge using parameters and various factors. The system is not an “eye” for “eye” nor a revenge based system. Canada removed the capital punishment in 1976 and despite attempts to reinstate in the 1980’s it was voted down in Parliament.

CORRECTIONS
If convicted and sentenced to imprisonment in BC the convict have 2 paths. If the sentence is 2 years or less, BC Corrections is responsible for the convict and a sentence of 2 years and a day the convict is the responsibility of Correctional Service of Canada.

CRIMNAL RECORD
Upon conviction of a criminal offence a person acquires a criminal record, unless given an absolute or conditional discharge. Criminal records stay on person’s record for 80 years. In Canada one can apply for a record suspension which used to be called a pardon. However even with a record suspension, a person still had a criminal record.

ANALYSIS
The Criminal Justice system is based on facts, not people’s opinions or feelings. It is a well-known fact that JYS is hated and despised by many individuals, however under the system JYS is entitled to a trial which the whole family has used many times. Over the last 4 years, JYS has had several criminal trials, and it appears many Meow mix armchair lawyers think the system is broken:

Fall 2020 Convicted of weapons offence, given a Conditional Discharge

May 2022: Convicted of assault and given another conditional discharge. Although it’s rare, there have been other cases where the convicted was given a discharge. This is not a sign the system is broken.

June 2022: Convicted of uttering threats and given probation and a criminal record as well to go with his probation.

Dec 2023. Convicted of pulling the fire alarm and acquitted of assault. This resulted in 18 months of probation.

As you can see, the sentences are increasing in length, and it’s a sure bet upon the following conviction on any offence, the punishment will increase as JYS’s criminal history will certainly play a part in any sentencing.
On the last assault charge trial, many people were outraged that JYS was acquitted. While that is a normal reaction, there must be a legal reason or other reason for the acquittal. No matter what armchair lawyers think, everybody has to remember that justice is not achieved if a person is convicted below the requisite standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Whether you liked the verdict or didn’t or thought the trial was a sham, don’t forget the legal system had a trial. We had a beginning, a middle and an end with a verdict. Even the most horrific crime in Canadian history, after 20 years of investigations and legal wrangling, resulted in not-guilty verdicts. For those of you who don’t know, it happened in 1985, and it took till 2005 to get a verdict.

If you want to see a crime where people wanted justice at any cost, do remember Canada did imprison a man for 23 years for murder and 28 years after the murder, DNA evidence cleared him pointing the finger at another person. One can only shudder and imagine what would have happened if this country had Capital punishment. Situations like that are why the system runs on facts, not views or opinions.
It’s very interesting to read people’s comments on Meow Mix attacking the system as they know best and are “smart.” The Criminal Justice system is very complex. It takes 10 years to become a lawyer, no matter if it’s defence or crown, and being a member of the judiciary requires years of experience before being appointed.

FAIRNESS
All of us that, include Canadians, International Students, Foreign Workers, Visitors Etc., are entitled to a system that is fair and impartial, the right of which is in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I am not a defender of JYS or support JYS in any way and unlike some of you ”supporters” of Meowmix (LOUDMOUTH MORONS I REFER TO YOU, Some seem to be drunk 24/7 with their postings.) I have done much behind the scenes of Meowmix to help them for years. However If we were to start weakening laws and procedures due to our high hate and disgust of JYS to make sure JYS got convicted, ask yourself:
“Where does 1 draw the line then?”