page_title: Court system of Canada
section_title: Court customs
hierarchical_section_title: Court system of Canada / Court customs
caption_attribution_description: English: Oath of citizenship ceremony
context_page_description: The court system of Canada forms the judicial branch of government, formally known as "The Queen on the Bench", which interprets the law and is made up of many courts differing in levels of legal superiority and separated by jurisdiction. Some of the courts are federal in nature, while others are provincial or territorial.
  The Constitution of Canada gives the federal government the exclusive right to legislate criminal law, while the provinces have exclusive control over much of civil law. The provinces have jurisdiction over the Administration of Justice in their territory. Almost all cases, whether criminal or civil, are heard in provincially or territorially established courts. The quite small system of federal courts only hears cases concerned with matters which are under exclusive federal control, such as federal taxation, federal administrative agencies, intellectual property, some portions of competition law and certain aspects of national security.
  The federal government appoints and pays for both the judges of the federal courts and the judges of the superior appellate and trial level courts of each province.
context_section_description: Courtroom custom is largely based upon the British tradition, with a few modifications.
caption: A Canadian courtroom with the arms of Canada, and a photo of the Canadian monarch
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