The Canadian Court System Explained, for Americans (and Canadians!)
This is not a substitute for professional legal advice.
Like the US, Canada has federal and sub-national (i.e., state and provincial) courts. Looking at the chart above, it looks pretty similar to the US court system.
It’s really not though.
First of all, unlike the US, all criminal laws in Canada are federal.
So does that mean all criminal trials are held in federal court? No.
Similar to US states, provinces and territories have:
- Inferior courts
- Superior courts (called “Supreme Courts” in some provinces, even though they are not the highest level of provincial court)
- Courts of appeal
Inferior Courts
These courts are created by provincial governments, and their judges are appointed by the respective premier of a province.
They handle less-serious criminal matters, provincial violations (e.g. parking tickets), family law, and in some provinces, civil cases.
Appeals are handled either by the appellate division of the provincial superior court, or in the case of a Justice of the Peace (equivalent to a magistrate judge) decision, a judge in the…
