Until the late nineteenth-century, the most common form of local government in rural England and the British Empire was administration by amateur justices of the peace: the sessions system. Petty Justice uses an unusually well-documented example of the colonial sessions system in Loyalist New Brunswick to examine the role of justices of the peace and other front-line low law officials like customs officers and deputy land surveyors in colonial local government.

Using the rich archival resources of Charlotte County, Paul Craven discusses issues such as the impact of...

In Christopher Moore's lively and engaging history of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, he traces the evolution of one of Canada's most influential courts from its origins as a branch of the lieutenant governor's executive council to the post-Charter years of cutting-edge jurisprudence and national influence.

Discussing the issues, personalities, and politics which have shaped Ontario's highest court, The Court of Appeal for Ontario offers appreciations of key figures in Canada's legal and political history - including John Beverly Robinson, Oliver Mowat, Bora Laskin, and...

The fourth volume in the Canadian State Trials series examines the legal issues surrounding perceived security threats and the repression of dissent from the outset of World War One through the Great Depression. War prompted the development of new government powers and raised questions about citizenship and Canadian identity, while the ensuing interwar years brought serious economic challenges and unprecedented tensions between labour and capital.

The chapters in this edited collection, written by leading scholars in numerous fields, examine the treatment of enemy aliens,...