Civil Code of Quebec

Canada has two main legal systems: federal law and provincial law. The federal government creates laws that apply across the country in areas like criminal law, immigration and citizenship. Meanwhile provincial governments create laws that apply within their province. These laws cover areas such as property, contracts, family law, and civil matters.

In Quebec, the Civil Code of Quebec (CCQ) serves as the provincial law. It regulates how people and businesses interact with each other. It covers areas like property ownership, contracts, family law, inheritance, and civil liability.

The Civil Code of Quebec follows a civil law system. This system uses a detailed written code that judges and lawyers apply to resolve disputes. Quebec inherited this approach from the French legal tradition, where laws are written down and judges rely on the code instead of the results of past cases. The rest of Canada uses the common law system, which relies heavily on judges’ past decisions and legal precedents.

The main difference between civil law and common law lies in how judges make decisions. In civil law, judges apply the rules written in the code and interpret them to each case. In common law, judges look at past cases (precedents) to guide their decisions and create consistency in the law. In other words, civil law relies on a structured set of rules, while common law evolves through court decisions over time.