DCHP-3

bijuralism

DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
n. — French relations

the existence of two legal systems in Canada: French civil law and English common law.

Type: 4. Culturally Significant — Bijuralism is used to refer to the legal systems in other countries and therefore is not unique to Canada in its general sense. Referring specifically to the coexistence of common law and civil law in Canada, the term has been used by the Canadian Department of Justice since the 1995 policy of legislative bijuralism (see Dept. of Justice reference, see the 1997 quotation).
See also COD-2, which marks the term "esp. Cdn (Law)".

Quotations

1996
The problem of federal statutes dealing with matters of Quebec private law has already been addressed elsewhere. See J.E.C. Brierley 'Bijuralism in Canada' (1992) in Contemporary Law 22, 27-8.
1997
First, the Department of Justice adopted in June 1995 a policy on legislative bijuralism, which reflects its desire to make laws clearer and for an interpretation that is more accessible to all Canadians.
2000
In its broadest sense, bijuralism connotes a factual situation—the coexistence of two legal traditions.
2006
AMENDMENTS RELATED TO BIJURALISM
2013
As a legacy left by the colonisation of North America by France and Great Britain, Canadian bijuralism is an expression of the coexistence of the civil law and common law legal traditions in Canada. This coexistence found its first formal expression in the Quebec Act, 1774.

References