Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Constitutional Law

Selected Works

Sujit Choudhry

Selected Works

Constitutional Law

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Law

Constitutional Review In New Democracies, Sujit Choudhry, K. Glenn Bass Sep 2013

Constitutional Review In New Democracies, Sujit Choudhry, K. Glenn Bass

Sujit Choudhry

The establishment of a judiciary with the power of constitutional review — determining whether government actions comply with the constitution’s provisions — is now considered a standard component of a democracy. It is increasingly common to entrust the power of constitutional review to a specialised constitutional court that can issue authoritative decisions on the constitutionality of laws and government actions and can interpret the constitution’s provisions. A constitutional court can play many important roles, including reviewing the constitutionality of legislation, protecting individual rights, providing a forum for the resolution of disputes in a federal system, enforcing the separation of powers, …

Go to article

The Globalization Of The Canadian Constitution, Sujit Choudhry Dec 2011

The Globalization Of The Canadian Constitution, Sujit Choudhry

Sujit Choudhry

It has been argued that the constitution of a country is the embodiment of, or a response to, its particular history, political values, culture, and, indeed, its very identity. But in the last two decades, we have witnessed a dramatic resurgence in the study of comparative constitutional law. How should we understand the relationship between the widely held view that constitutions are the quintessential national documents and the increasing migration of constitutional ideas across the globe? In my Trudeau Lecture, I examine the importance of comparative engagement in the drafting of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and …

Go to article

Mechanisms For Resolving Divisive Issues In Constitutional Negotiations, Sujit Choudhry, Nicholas Haysom Dec 2009

Mechanisms For Resolving Divisive Issues In Constitutional Negotiations, Sujit Choudhry, Nicholas Haysom

Sujit Choudhry

This issue paper is part of the ‘Constitution-making in Focus’ series and is focusing on how to deal with divisive issues in a constitution-making process. There can be no fool-proof algorithms for resolving divisive issues to achieve this end, but there are mechanisms with which every negotiation process should be equipped.

Go to article

Drafting Nepal's Language Policy, Sujit Choudhry Dec 2008

Drafting Nepal's Language Policy, Sujit Choudhry

Sujit Choudhry

Language will be one of the most important issues for the writers of Nepal’s new constitution. In grappling with it, there are in fact two sets of questions for Nepal to discuss. First, what does official language status actually mean? Second, how can constitutional design respond to linguistic diversity—in particular, what is the relationship between official language policies and federalism? This article explores these issues.

Go to article

Constitutional Design For Divided Societies: Integration Or Accommodation?, Sujit Choudhry Dec 2007

Constitutional Design For Divided Societies: Integration Or Accommodation?, Sujit Choudhry

Sujit Choudhry

Table of Contents: Introduction: Integration, Accommodation and the Agenda of Comparative Constitutional Law, Sujit Choudhry Part I: Setting the Stage 1. Integration or accommodation? The enduring debate in conflict regulation, John McGarry, Brendan O'Leary and Richard Simeon 2. The internationalization of minority rights, Will Kymlicka 3. Does the world need more Canada? The politics of the Canadian model in constitutional politics and political theory, Sujit Choudhry 4. Beyond the dichotomy of universalism and difference: four responses to cultural diversity, Alan Patten 5. Groups and constitutionalism in divided societies: a dynamic approach to the design of democratic institutions, Richard H. Pildes …

Go to article

The Migration Of Constitutional Ideas, Sujit Choudhry Dec 2006

The Migration Of Constitutional Ideas, Sujit Choudhry

Sujit Choudhry

The migration of constitutional ideas across jurisdictions is one of the central features of contemporary constitutional practice. The increasing use of comparative jurisprudence in interpreting constitutions is one example of this. In this 2007 book, leading figures in the study of comparative constitutionalism and comparative constitutional politics from North America, Europe and Australia discuss the dynamic processes whereby constitutional systems influence each other. They explore basic methodological questions which have thus far received little attention, and examine the complex relationship between national and supranational constitutionalism - an issue of considerable contemporary interest in Europe. The migration of constitutional ideas is …

Go to article

So What Is The Real Legacy Of Oakes? Two Decades Of Proportionality Analysis Under The Canadian Charter’S Section 1, Sujit Choudhry Dec 2005

So What Is The Real Legacy Of Oakes? Two Decades Of Proportionality Analysis Under The Canadian Charter’S Section 1, Sujit Choudhry

Sujit Choudhry

R. v. Oakes is widely regarded as one of the most important judgments interpreting Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In addition to laying down its famous proportionality test to assess the reasonableness of limits on Charter rights, it clarified the Supreme Court of Canada’s Court’s interpretive methodology for Charter cases, perhaps most centrally that rights are of presumptive importance, and limitations the exception that are only acceptable if governments meet a demanding test of justification. The citation of Oakes by courts in Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Namibia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, …

Go to article