The structure of statutory sentencing provisions and the development of penal law in Canada in the middle of the nineteenth century: The case of Nova Scotia and Lower Canada (1851-1860).

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to analyze statutory law that existed pre-1892 and consequently to present the backdrop of what existed before the actual Criminal Code. The research will concentrate specifically on the provinces of Lower Canada and of Nova Scotia for the time period of approximately 1850-1860 and will focus on the Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia of 1851 and the Consolidated Statutes of Lower Canada of 1860. The actual objective is twofold and will allow, firstly, for the presentation of the historical context and the development of penal law for these two provinces in order to demonstrate the emergence of the particular Statutes and, secondly, for the analysis of the actual sentencing provisions that are present in the two statutory documents. The present work is shedding light on a rather untouched domain of history of law and of sentencing provisions. The study reveals very interesting trends and patterns that have led to the development of these two statutory documents for each of the provinces concerned. One is able to see the importance of certain groups of elite in view of the existence of certain sanctioned behaviours as well as the whole process of legislative manoeuvres. As well, the contents of the Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia of 1851 and the Consolidated Statutes of Lower Canada of 1860 in terms of sentencing provisions, more specifically in reference to the offences against the person, demonstrate riveting sanctions and fascinating comparisons. In all, this research represents an important and relatively new view into the whole background of pre-1892 Criminal Code era in relation to statutory laws and sentencing provisions. The study provides for a window into the past that will serve to shed light on the laws of the present. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)