About how old is Canada’s tradition of ordered liberty?
- About 150 years
- About 2,000 years
- About 400 years
- About 800 years
Answer: About 800 years
Canada’s tradition of ordered liberty is about 800 years old. It dates back to Magna Carta, signed in England in 1215. The sources of Canadian law, such as English common law and the unwritten constitution inherited from Great Britain, secure this tradition for Canadians.
Learn more: Where rights and laws come from
- Rights and responsibilities come from Canada’s history, are secured by Canadian law and reflect shared traditions, identity and values.
- Sources of Canadian law: laws passed by Parliament and the provincial legislatures, English common law, the civil code of France, and the unwritten constitution inherited from Great Britain.
- Magna Carta was signed in England in 1215. It is also called the Great Charter of Freedoms.
- Canada’s tradition of ordered liberty is about 800 years old and dates back to Magna Carta.
- Habeas corpus, the right to challenge unlawful detention by the state, comes from English common law.