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

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Fyson, Donald,
• MitwirkendeR: McMurtry, R. Roy,; Phillips, Jim,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2019]; ©2006
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (490 p.)

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.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Tables and Figures -- Foreword. The Osgoode Society For Canadian Legal History -- 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