Magistrates, Police and People

Know about the book -

Magistrates, Police and People is written by Donald Fyson and published by University of Toronto Press. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 0802092233 (ISBN 10) and 9780802092236 (ISBN 13).

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. Focusing 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, the system offered the colonial state and its elites a powerful, though often faulty, means of imposing their will on Quebec society. This study will challenge many received historical interpretations, providing new insight into criminal justice in early Quebec.