Magistrates, Police, and People : Everyday Criminal Justice in Quebec and Lower Canada, 1764-1837 / Donald Fyson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fyson, Donald, author.

Series:

Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History series.

Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Criminal justice, Administration of--Québec (Province)--History--18th century.

Criminal justice, Administration of.

Criminal justice, Administration of--Québec (Province)--History--19th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (490 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

The role and function of criminal justice in a conquered colony is always problematic, and the case of Quebec is no exception. Many historians have suggested that, between the Conquest and the Rebellions (1760s-1830s), Quebec's 'Canadien' inhabitants both boycotted and were excluded from the British criminal justice system. Magistrates, Police, and People challenges this simplistic view of the relationship between criminal law and Quebec society, offering instead a fresh view of a complex accord. Based on extensive research in judicial and official sources, Donald Fyson offers the first comprehensive study of the everyday workings of criminal justice in Quebec and Lower Canada. Focussing on the justices of the peace and their police, Fyson examines both the criminal justice system itself, and the system in operation as experienced by those who participated in it. Fyson contends that, although the system was fundamentally biased, its flexibility provided a source of power for ordinary citizens. At the same time, everyday criminal justice offered the colonial state and colonial elites a powerful, though often faulty, means of imposing their will on Quebec society. This fascinating and controversial study will challenge many received historical interpretations, providing new insight into the criminal justice system of early Quebec.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Tables and Figures

Foreword. The Osgoode Society For Canadian Legal History / McMurtry, R. Roy / Phillips, Jim

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

1. English Justice in a Foreign Land

2. Making Justices

3. The Character of the Magistracy

4. The Police before the Police

5. The Relevance of Criminal Justice

6. Experiencing the Everyday Course of Criminal Justice

7. Criminal Justice and Social Power

8. Criminal Justice and State Power

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Illustration Credits

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

9781487597344

1487597347

9781487595630

1487595638

OCLC:

1091661928