About Learning about the Law

This wikibook from People's Law School will help you understand the law in Canada. You will find out about the two major

areas of law: criminal law and civil law.

Throughout this wikibook, we focus on your legal rights and responsibilities under Canadian law.

This wikibook is divided into two sections:

• Fundamentals of the Law
• Criminal and Civil Law

We tried to keep the language easy, but some parts may still be hard. The words that are in bold type are defined in the section, What the Words Mean.

Be sure to use the information in the section Find Out More at the end of the wikibook. It refers you to a wide range of resources that will answer your questions and provide help if you have a legal problem.

This booklet is part of a three-part series of booklets, Learning About the Law. The other two booklets in the series are:

• Learning about the Law: Family Law, Young People and the Law, Older People and Elder Law
• Learning about the Law: Working in BC, Renting a Home

Acknowledgements

• Content contributor: Gayla Reid
• Legal reviewer: Aman Sanghera
• ESL reviewers: Harvinder Dhariwal, Randy Keats, Bachan Rai
• Publications coordinator: Terresa Augustine
• Page layout and design: Elena Renderos
• Proofreader: Bernice DeWitt, Catherine Vail

People's Law School acknowledges the contribution of The Justice Education Society in the earlier versions of this publication.

This project is made possible through funding from the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia. It can help Canadians and immigrants learn more about the law in British Columbia and Canada. For more information or referrals to services, visit publiclegaled.bc.ca or contact People's Law School at 604-331-5400.

The People's Law School works within budget to keep publications up-to-date. However, the reader or service provider is responsible for using and interpreting information in this publication.

Permission is given to reproduce this information for non-commercial use and with credit to the People's Law School. You cannot reproduce graphic images without permission of shutterstock.com.

The People's Law School

The People's Law School is a non-profit charitable society whose purpose is to provide British Columbians with reliable information about their rights and responsibilities under the law.

Suite 150 - 900 Howe Street

Vancouver, BC

V6Z 2M4

Tel: 604-331-5400

Fax: 604-331-5401

Email: info@publiclegaled.bc.ca

This booklet and others are available on the People's Law School website:

www.publiclegaled.bc.ca

Learning about the Law Wikibook © People's Law School is, except for the images, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.

In law, response to an allegation of fact or to a claim. Usually refers to documents that reply to the allegations or claims made by the other party, such as a "Response to Family Claim" or a "Reply."

Under the Family Law Act, a term that describes the time a person who is not a guardian of a child, including a parent who is not a guardian, has with that child. Under the Divorce Act, a term that describes the time a person who is not a married spouse has with a child. See "guardian" and "parental responsibilities."

In law, to formally deliver documents to a person in a manner that complies with the rules of court. Service may be ordinary (mailed or delivered to a litigant's address for service), personal (hand-delivered to a person), or substituted (performed in a way other than the rules normally require). See "address for delivery," "ordinary service," "personal service" and "substituted service."