Who Is the Crown in Canadian Law
Since the time of King Louis XIV,[302] the monarch has been the source of all honours in Canada and orders[302],[303] awarded and medals have been “an integral part of the crown.” [302] Therefore, the insignia and medallions of these awards bear a crown, a number and/or a portrait of the monarch. Similarly, the country`s heraldic authority was created by the Queen and, under the authority of the Governor General, confers new coats of arms, flags and insignia on Canada. The use of the royal crown in such symbols is a gift from the monarch showing royal support and/or association, and requires their consent before being added. [301] [304] The main symbol of the monarchy is the sovereign himself,[221] described as “the personal expression of the crown in Canada,”[299] and his image is therefore used to refer to Canadian sovereignty and governmental authority – his image appears on coins, for example, and his portrait in government buildings. [183] The sovereign continues to be mentioned as well as the subject of songs, faithful toasts and salvos of arms. [300] A royal cipher that appears on official buildings and seals, or a crown that appears on provincial and state coats of arms, as well as on regimental and maritime insignia and rank insignia of the police and Canadian Forces, is also used to illustrate the monarchy as a place of authority, [301] the latter without reference to a specific monarch. While the adoption of criminal law in Canada falls under federal jurisdiction, the prosecution of most crimes – outside of Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut – is the responsibility of provincial attorneys general and their lawful deputies under the “Interpretation” section of the Criminal Code. [3] As a result, the vast majority of Crown prosecutors work in all ten Canadian provinces. Crown attorneys represent the Crown and act as prosecutors in proceedings under the Criminal Code and various other statutes. Prosecutions under federal statutes other than the Criminal Code, such as the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Income Tax Act and others, are generally (but not exclusively) conducted by the Office of the Attorney of Canada, which also handles most drug cases outside Quebec and New Brunswick. There are similarities between this role and that of the Attorney Tax in Scotland, the Crown Attorney in England and Wales, and the United States Attorney or the United States District Attorney. Crown attorneys are not elected. They are civil servants and may be dismissed on the basis of their employment contracts.
Relations between the realms of the Commonwealth are such that any change in the rules governing the succession of their respective crowns requires the unanimous consent of all realms. Succession is governed by laws such as the Bill of Rights of 1689, the Act of Settlement of 1701 and the Acts of Union of 1707. In 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated and all possible future descendants were excluded from the succession to the throne. [98] The British government of the day wanted speed to avoid embarrassing debates in the dominion parliaments and proposed that the governments of the dominions of the British Commonwealth – then Australia, New Zealand, the Irish Free State, the Union of South Africa and Canada – automatically consider the person who was monarch of the United Kingdom to be the monarch of their respective dominion. As with other Dominion governments, the Canadian cabinet led by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King refused to accept the idea, pointing out that inheritance laws were part of Canadian law and, since the Statute of Westminster of 1931 prohibited the United Kingdom from making laws for Canada, including those relating to succession,[99] a change in the application and approval by Canada of British legislation (Her Majesty`s Declaration of Abdication Act, 1936) Canadian law. [100] Sir Maurice Gwyer, the first Parliamentary Counsel in the United Kingdom, echoed this position when he stated that the Act of Settlement was part of the law in all the Dominions. [100] Thus, Order of Council P.C. 3144[101] was proclaimed, expressing the request and consent of Cabinet that the Declaration of Her Majesty`s Abdication Act, 1936 be part of the laws of Canada, and the Succession to the Throne Act, 1937 gave parliamentary ratification of this action and brought the Act of Settlement and Royal Marriages Act 1772 into Canadian law.
[102] [103] It was considered part of Canadian law by Cabinet in 1947. [n 8] [104] The Department of Foreign Affairs has included all inheritance laws in its list of Canadian laws. Crown attorneys or Crown attorneys (or in Alberta and New Brunswick)[1][2] are the prosecutors of the Canadian legal system. The new monarch is crowned in the UK according to an ancient ritual, but there is no need for a sovereign to reign. [n 6] Under the Federal Interpretation Act, public servants holding federal office under the Crown are not affected by the death of the monarch and are not required to take the oath of allegiance again. [96] All references in federal legislation to former monarchs, whether male (e.g. Her Majesty) or female (e.g., the Queen), continue to signify the reigning sovereign of Canada, regardless of gender. [97] Indeed, the Crown never dies at common law. After an individual ascends the throne, he usually reigns until death. [n 7] These comments were echoed by teacher and author Nathan Tidridge, who argued that the role of the crown disappeared from provincial curricula beginning in the 1960s because the general subject of civics received less attention. [405] He said Canadians were “brought up in the faith of illiteracy, ambivalence or even hostility towards our constitutional monarchy.” [431] The MLC agreed, stating that Canada has “an education system that, unfortunately, often does not provide a thorough knowledge of the Canadian Constitution.” [430] Michael Valpy also noted that “the role of the Crown in the apparatus of Canada`s constitutional monarchy is rarely highlighted. Only a few times in our history has it been exposed to a blazing sun, which has unfortunately led to a black hole of public understanding of how it works.
[435] He later repeated, “The public`s attention span to the constitutional intricacies of the monarchy is clinically short.” [436] The Statute of Westminster (1931) codified the severability of the Crown. The Dominions – semi-independent states like Canada, Australia and New Zealand – continued to have a common monarch. (See Commonwealth.) But it would only act on the advice of the ministers of each dominion when it came to matters concerning those individual nations. When George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited Canada in 1939, they toured as King and Queen of Canada. Queen Elizabeth II was the first monarch to be crowned Queen of Canada in 1953. Because Crown prosecutors are not elected, the Office of the Attorney General of Canada system is often perceived as less politically motivated than other systems. The monarchy of Canada was established at Confederation when its executive power and authority were declared (in section 9 of the Constitution Act, 1867) to continue and be transferred to the monarch. Lawyers who work for the federal Department of Justice are often referred to as Crown prosecutors, even though they work in civil cases. In addition, lawyers, law students and others who represent the Crown only in provincial crimes (such as municipal prosecutions and traffic offences) are referred to as “provincial prosecutors” or “provincial criminal prosecutors” (powers of attorney) and not Crown attorneys. Whether the matter being prosecuted is a criminal or provincial offence, Crown prosecutors represent and litigate on behalf of the Crown.
In the province of Ontario, there is only one Crown attorney, appointed by the Attorney General per judicial district. The Crown attorney is responsible for overseeing the office at the local level and has some autonomy from the Attorney General`s office.