Bailiff, sheriff's deputy employed for the execution of judgements (eg, seizure of judgement debtor's goods, repossession of chattels, and evictions); also, an officer of the court having custody of prisoners under arraignment.

From the popular television program People's Court to the establishment of a "Private Court" in Metropolitan Toronto, there has developed a trend toward the resolution of certain kinds of disputes outside the normal and formal courtroom setting.

On 24 April 1985 the Supreme Court of Canada in the BIG M DRUG MART case struck down the Lord's Day Act on the grounds that it contravened the freedom of religion and conscience provision in the CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS.

Gerald Regan waited silently for his moment of truth in a Halifax courtroom late last week.

It was the dull drone of the van's horn that first alerted Josée Desilets to the horrific accident across the road from her small business selling windows. Her husband, Réjean Lambert, rushed out of their store in tiny St-Jean-Baptiste-de-Nicolet, Que.

Once a 14-year-old boy on death row, Steven Truscott was for the longest time Canada's poster case for the abolition of capital punishment. His 1959 conviction for the rape and strangulation of grade-school friend Lynne Harper, 12, shocked and divided Canadians for decades.

Teddy Kennedy was one of the first to call Brian MULRONEY at home last Monday morning with congratulations. The U.S. senator's message, Mulroney later told friends, included the observation that Mulroney "proved that a citizen can take on city hall, and win.

Plea Bargaining is a form of negotiation between a person charged with an offence and a crown prosecutor. The accused person usually negotiates through his counsel. Plea bargaining can take several forms.

Procedural Law encompasses legal rules governing the process for settlement of disputes (criminal and civil). In contrast, SUBSTANTIVE LAW sets out the rights and obligations of members of society. Procedural and substantive law are complementary.

Copyright law is included in what is commonly known as the law of intellectual and industrial property. This branch of law also includes PATENTS, TRADEMARKS and the law of industrial designs.

The Zundel case (1992) centred on the constitutional validity of section 181 of the Criminal Code which prohibits the wilful dissemination of false news. Zundel had published a brochure entitled "Did Six Million Really Die?".

Air law and space law are separate and distinct branches of law, although they are occasionally treated as one ("Aerospace Law"). Air law, the older of the 2, is the body of public and private law, both national and international, that regulates aeronautical activities and other uses of airspace.

The Anti-Inflation Act was a temporary and extraordinary measure instituted by the government of Pierre TRUDEAU in an attempt to control high unemployment and inflation.

In the determinedly dry language of the Supreme Court of Canada, it is simply the "reference by the Governor in Council concerning certain questions relating to the secession of Quebec from Canada.

AT FIRST GLANCE, Greg looks much like the other inmates at the Toronto Youth Assessment Centre. Shoulder-length black hair pulled back in a ponytail, he's dressed in standard-issue burgundy T-shirt, sweatpants and running shoes with Velcro fasteners.

Robbery is one of the earliest and most serious felonies and was once punishable by death. Robbery is a serious, indictable offence under the Canadian CRIMINAL CODE (s302), punishable by life imprisonment.

The obligation upon a husband to support his separated wife was embodied in the first written laws, the Code of Hammurabi, about 1792 to 1750 BC. This obligation was known in early English ecclesiastical law, and, in 1867, was shifted into the secular realm by Parliament.

Selected text of the Quebec Act:An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America.

Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, enshrines the rights of aboriginal peoples. In the Sparrow case (1990), an aboriginal person fished contrary to the provisions of federal law.

The Supreme Court delineated, in the Stinchcombe case (1991), the legal parameters of a full and complete defence, as guaranteed by section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This had the effect of eliminating the legal uncertainty surrounding the disclosure of evidence by the Crown.

SOME COUNTERFEIT MONEY is easy to spot. A veteran RCMP officer recalls once seeing a particularly lame bill photocopied in black and white, then coloured in with crayons.

ACADEMIC SCHOLARS are often loathe to admit to the large role chance plays in history, let alone in their own work. But Shelagh Grant makes no bones about literally stumbling over a remarkable episode in Canada's Arctic past.

The power to establish courts in Canada is conferred on both provincial legislatures and Parliament.

International law is the body of rules that governs the conduct of STATES and other international associations, such as the UN, although in the human rights area international law, in some instances, may be directly applicable to individuals as well as to states.