Compartive Legal Systems Canada vs Usa - 1691 Words

Canadas Dominance over United States Penal System Name: Shenthuran Vijayananthan Teacher: Mrs. Merenda Due Date: Wed. Oct. 26, 2005 Topic: #1 Ââ€" Comparative Legal Systems (Canada vs. USA) Thesis: Canadas criminal justice system, specifically laws dealing with punishment, is far superior to that of the United States Canada and the United States of America are two neighboring countries who besides the border share numerous other key aspects. Though similar in beliefs and culture the two countries are far from alike. Their legal structure particularly the penal system is one of most significant boundaries between Canada and the United States. Though not perfect, its absolutely clear that Canada has the far more superior legal system.†¦show more content†¦Most importantly there are no statistics or proven facts that capital punishment deters and protects society from future criminals. In fact in 2004 Canadas homicide rate was 1.95 per 100,000 people (Statistics Canada); this was almost three times lower than that of the United States which came in at 5.6 per100 000 people (U.S. Department of Justice). Though there are other factors influencing homicide rate, it is still and indicator of the deficiency of capital punishment. Trudeau stated in his famous speech of 1976 If we have reason to b elieve that hanging will protect society from murder and violent crime, if this cause or relation can be established then hanging is permissibleÂ…..having looked at the debates and looked at the statistics now and the passed its obviously not establishedÂ…..when human life is at stake you solve it in favor of life not death. (CBC Canada) When it comes down to less serious crimes, Canadas penal system continues its dominance over that of Americas. When a person is convicted for more than one crime at the same time they are given a conjunctive sentence in Canada whereas in the states they are given a consecutive sentence. Conjunctive sentencing allows the offender to pay back society for the two crimes during the same time period thus if someone is given two sentences of three years