Glossary
A consumer proposal is a legal process to help you get out of debt. A Licensed Insolvency Trustee helps you make a plan to give to your unsecured creditors.
If a creditor accepts your plan, one or both of the following happens:
- you pay only part of what you owe them
- you have more time to pay them back
A credit reporting agency is a business that keeps a record of your credit history. It also calculates your credit score. The two main credit reporting agencies in Canada are Equifax and TransUnion.
In Family Law
A contact order is a court order that allows a child to have contact with a person who is not a parent and who does not stand in the place of a parent, such as a step-parent. For example, contact can include visits or telephone or webcam calls with a grandparent or an aunt or uncle.
Contempt of court is when someone does not listen to or respect the court, judge, or other person in a legal proceeding. It can include not following orders, refusing to co-operate with the judge, and lying. You can be fined or sent to jail if you are in contempt of court.
In Immigration Law, Refugee Law
A Convention refugee is someone who has left their country and is not able or not willing to return. This is because they have good reason to fear that they will be persecuted because of:
- race,
- religion,
- nationality,
- political opinion, or
- being a member of a particular social group.
Their country is also not able or not willing to protect them, and they cannot reasonably and safely live in another part of their country.
In Criminal Law
A conviction is a type of criminal sentence that includes a permanent criminal record.
If a judge or jury finds you guilty of a crime, the judge decides your sentence. The judge can either convict you or discharge you.
But if you’re a young person under age 18, the judge is not allowed to convict you. They can only give you a youth sentence.
If the judge convicts you, the judge will give you a punishment like a fine, probation, or jail time. You’ll also have a permanent criminal record.
If the judge gives you an absolute discharge, you’ll have no punishment and no criminal record. You are free to go.
If the judge gives you a conditional discharge, you’ll have no punishment but you’ll have to follow certain rules until the conditional discharge is finished. The conditional discharge can last for up to 3 years. You will have a temporary criminal record until the conditional discharge is finished.
A cooling off period is the amount of time you have to change your mind to cancel a contract without giving a reason and without penalty. Not all contracts have cooling-off periods, or the same cooling off period.
In Criminal Law
A correctional officer is someone who is responsible for the safety, security, and supervision of people serving sentences of 2 years or more in federal prison.
In Family Law
Cost consequences are when one party has to pay some or all of the legal costs of the other party. Legal costs usually include lawyer’s fees. It might also include other costs paid, such as the fee paid to have a pension valued.
The court decides when to make a court order for cost consequences. For example, it might order you to pay some of your partner’s costs if it made the court order that your partner asked for.
In Family Law, Tribunals and Courts
The court clerk is a person at the courthouse responsible for things like issuing documents, maintaining court files, and setting court dates.