From: johnl@iecc.com   
      
   >>As has been outlined in that newspaper report, the next step in the   
   >>process is the court appearance in September.  Follow it, and   
   >>appreciate that Canada's legal system is not American.   
   >   
   >State courts in the United States uses a legal system based on the English   
   >legal system. What's Canada's based on, Somalia's? I found a Web page   
   >of a criminal attorney in Toronto that refers to preliminary hearings,   
   >but for all I know, Quebec has exceptional procedures.   
      
   Quebec law is based on pre-Napoleonic French law, but the criminal   
   procedures seem to be mostly harmonized with the rest of Canada.  The   
   Canadian legal system only separated from the British in the 20th   
   century, so there really are significant differences from US practice.   
   As a trivial example, lawyers still wear wigs and robes in court.   
   (I've seen them.)   
      
   There will indeed be a preliminary hearing.  That's what will happen   
   in September.  This web site gives a useful overview of Quebec   
   criminal procedure:   
      
   http://www.educaloi.qc.ca/en/capsules/criminal-and-penal-cases-c   
   urt-quebec-procedure   
      
   --   
   Regards,   
   John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",   
   Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. http://jl.ly   
      
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