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Articles 1 - 19 of 19

Full-Text Articles in Law

Devolution Or Disunion: The Constitution After Meech Lake, Calvin Massey Oct 1991

Devolution Or Disunion: The Constitution After Meech Lake, Calvin Massey

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Professor Massey discusses the theoretical benefits of decentralized federalism and proposes constitutional changes to obtain those benefits and to respond to the disparate aspirations of the Canadian polity. He proposes that the provinces and federal government share concurrent authority over most powers, with provincial legislation paramount in cases of conflict. He suggests an empowered Senate, partially selected by the provinces and partially appointed by the federal government, aboriginal self-government, and territorial Senate representation. Finally, Massey proposes altering the constitutional amending formula to enhance public participation and facilitate amendment where unanimity is not critical.


The Origin And Evolution Of The Attorney And Solicitor In The Legal Profession Of Nova Scotia, Barry Cahill Oct 1991

The Origin And Evolution Of The Attorney And Solicitor In The Legal Profession Of Nova Scotia, Barry Cahill

Dalhousie Law Journal

D.G. Bell has observed that the torrent "of historical writing on Canadian legal education has yet to be matched by intensive study of the legal profession itself." The aim of the present paper is to demonstrate that, for eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Nova Scotia, the development of the legal profession was so closely linked to the evolution of the superior courts, especially the Court of Chancery, that the former cannot be studied in isolation from the latter. By the time Halifax was founded in 1749, the attorney at law and solicitor in equity had not only been statutorily entrenched as …


Canadian Tort Law: A Review For The Nineties, B T. Hill Oct 1991

Canadian Tort Law: A Review For The Nineties, B T. Hill

Dalhousie Law Journal

My purpose in writing this review follows from a tradition initiated by feminist scholars. My analysis of Canadian Tort Law. Cases, Notes and Materials begins with a survey of the casebook with commentary concerning its historical development as a casebook, focussing on instances where gender issues are raised. I then offer a critique concerning the lack of consideration and misappropriation of gender issues in the recently released 1990 edition of the casebook, using illustrative examples from the casebook and a selection of two feminists' critique of tort law. Some modest suggestions for improvement are made throughout the review, and the …


Of Federalism, Secession, Canada And Quebec, Greg Craven Oct 1991

Of Federalism, Secession, Canada And Quebec, Greg Craven

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article does not seek to examine comprehensively either the political or the legal intricacies of the possible secession of Quebec from Canada. To either task, the author's knowledge would be unequal. In general terms, all that is aimed at here is the very modest goal of bringing to bear upon the present Quebec-Canada scenario perceptions garnered from a consideration of similar (though different) situations which have arisen in other federations, and especially in the Australian federation. More specifically, what is attempted is three things. First, a brief discussion is undertaken of the concept of secession as such. Second, secession …


Labouring Outside The Charter, David M. Beatty Oct 1991

Labouring Outside The Charter, David M. Beatty

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In this essay, Professor Beatty reviews the leading Charter cases decided by the Supreme Court of Canada which consider the constitutionality of a variety of different labour laws. In reasoning and result, he finds that by and large these cases provide strong support for those legal scholars who are generally sceptical of the law and critical of the courts and who predicted that, even with the Charter, it was unlikely the Court would change the antipathy judges have historically displayed to the interests of workers and their associations. However, while these legal theorists may draw some comfort from these decisions …


Toward A Distinctive Canadian Corporate Law Regime, Ronald J. Daniels, Jeffrey G. Macintosh Oct 1991

Toward A Distinctive Canadian Corporate Law Regime, Ronald J. Daniels, Jeffrey G. Macintosh

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In this article, the authors consider the impact of the institutional and market environment in which Canadian business operates on the structure of corporate and securities law. The authors argue that the linkages between markets and law have been neglected by scholars, judges, and regulators concerned with Canadian corporate and securities law, resulting in the adaption of approaches that are ill-suited to the Canadian environment. Canadian capital markets, for instance, are characterized by high levels of share ownership concentration, thin trading problems, intensive inter-corporate linkages, and possibly lower levels of efficiency. In sum, these factors make the problems occasioned by …


Mental Health Law And The Courts, Isabel Grant Oct 1991

Mental Health Law And The Courts, Isabel Grant

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This paper presents an analysis of the early Charter cases dealing with civil commitment and compulsory treatment of individuals under provincial mental health legislation. The author describes two models for dealing with these issues: the paternalistic model and the social control model. She argues that Canadian courts have adopted a paternalistic approach and, as such, have failed to recognize the adversary relationship between the state and the individual which forms the basis of involuntary psychiatry. Courts have thus failed to develop the kinds of procedural protections that are available in the criminal law context. The author proposes that courts making …


Gender Discrimination In The Common Law Of Domicile And The Application Of The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms, Annalise Acorn Jul 1991

Gender Discrimination In The Common Law Of Domicile And The Application Of The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms, Annalise Acorn

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

A married woman must take her husband's domicile at common law. This rule exists in five of Canada's provinces. It is argued that the rule violates the right to equality. It is further argued that, notwithstanding the Supreme Court's decision in Dolphin Delivery, the Charter must apply to common law rules governing the relationship between husband and wife. Such rules impose a status on the parties. Therefore, a commitment to respect for the autonomous choice of individuals does not support the conclusion that the rules should be beyond constitutional review.


...Meech Lake To The Contrary Notwithstanding (Part Ii), Roderick A. Macdonald Jul 1991

...Meech Lake To The Contrary Notwithstanding (Part Ii), Roderick A. Macdonald

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In this essay, which has been published in two parts, the author argues that the Meech Lake Accord was more than a hastily cobbled together political deal between the Prime Minister and ten provincial premiers. Despite the unattractive process by which the Meech Lake Accord was struck, and especially defended, despite the disingenuous character of the arguments most often advanced for its adoption, and despite its close connection with other aspects of the federal government's political agenda which many Canadians found suspicious, the Meech Lake Accord did respond to an important issue in post-patriation constitutionalism. A review of Canadian constitutional …


Improving Access To Legal Education For Native People In Canada: Dalhousie Law School's I.B.M. Program In Context, Hugh Macaulay May 1991

Improving Access To Legal Education For Native People In Canada: Dalhousie Law School's I.B.M. Program In Context, Hugh Macaulay

Dalhousie Law Journal

This paper is about access to legal education for Native peoples in Canada. It is important at the very outset of this undertaking to explain my interest in this issue and to describe the perspective from which I write. At the beginning of the 1989-90 academic year I returned to Halifax to discover that Dalhousie had implemented a program to increase access for Blacks and Micmacs to legal education. Motivated by my support for this initiative, I applied to be a tutor in the program and was fortunate enough to be selected.


Liability For Provincial Offences: Fault, Penalty And The Principles Of Fundamental Justice In Canada (A Review Of Law Reform Proposals From Ontario, Saskatchewan And Alberta), Bruce P. Archibald May 1991

Liability For Provincial Offences: Fault, Penalty And The Principles Of Fundamental Justice In Canada (A Review Of Law Reform Proposals From Ontario, Saskatchewan And Alberta), Bruce P. Archibald

Dalhousie Law Journal

While the Canadian Criminal Code is presently in the process of thorough going reform by the federal government, one should not lose sight of the important reforms being proposed in several Canadian provinces to the legal regimes governing provincial offences. A need for reform to provincial offence regimes is evident in relation to both substance and procedure, although the approaches to solving problems in both spheres has traditionally differed from province to province. At the level of procedure, some provinces have been content to enforce their provincial offences through the expedient of adopting by reference the procedures found in Part …


Poison Pills: Developing A Canadian Regulatory And Judicial Response, Jody W. Forsyth May 1991

Poison Pills: Developing A Canadian Regulatory And Judicial Response, Jody W. Forsyth

Dalhousie Law Journal

It is trite to say that the United States has witnessed an explosion of hostile take-over activity in recent years. Potential acquirers have employed both non-coercive techniques such as conditional bids and proxy solicitations, and coercive techniques such as "street sweeps' 4 and two-tier, front-end loaded bids.5 In response, target corporations have fought back with a wide variety of" defences designed to defeat any undesired take-over attempt. One of the most widely contested of these defences is the shareholder rights plan, or "poison pill" as it is better known.


Individual Enforcement Of Canada's Environmental Protection Laws: The Weak-Spirited Need Not Try, Roger W. Proctor May 1991

Individual Enforcement Of Canada's Environmental Protection Laws: The Weak-Spirited Need Not Try, Roger W. Proctor

Dalhousie Law Journal

It is no secret that public awareness and concern for environmental protection in Canada has increased significantly in recent years. Legislators have addressed these concerns by implementing new laws to regulate the various practices that impact negatively on the environment. With statutes in hand, environmentally conscious individuals are beginning to intervene personally to monitor compliance and ensure enforcement of these new laws.


Abortion Law In Canada: A Matter Of National Concern, Moira Mcconnell, Lorenne Clark May 1991

Abortion Law In Canada: A Matter Of National Concern, Moira Mcconnell, Lorenne Clark

Dalhousie Law Journal

Canada's newest abortion legislation, embodied in Bill C-43, was defeated in the Senate on January 31st, 1991. The Bill sought to remedy the state of "lawlessness" which has existed respecting abortion ever since the decision reached by the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Morgentaler in January, 1988. However, this determination is incorrect. The law is quite clear: there is no criminal prohibition against abortion in Canada. This follows directly from the Court's holding in the Morgentaler decision that the old law, s. 287 (formerly s.251) of the Criminal Code, infringed a woman's right to security and liberty of …


Rethinking Manner And Form: From Parliamentary Sovereignty To Constitutional Values, R. Elliot Apr 1991

Rethinking Manner And Form: From Parliamentary Sovereignty To Constitutional Values, R. Elliot

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The issue of whether a legislative body in a democratic society can bind itself on matters relating to the procedures by which the legislation is to be enacted, amended or repealed has, to this point, tended to dissolve into the question of which of two contending formulations of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty one prefers, Dicey's traditional formulation or the "new view" by Jennings and others. The author argues that, regardless of how one formulates it, the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty provides an unsound basis upon which to resolve this issue, and that an alternative basis is therefore needed. That …


...Meech Lake To The Contrary Notwithstanding (Part I), Roderick A. Macdonald Apr 1991

...Meech Lake To The Contrary Notwithstanding (Part I), Roderick A. Macdonald

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In this essay, which will be published in two parts, the author argues that the Meech Lake Accord was more than a hastily cobbled together political deal between the Prime Minister and ten provincial premiers. Despite the unattractive process by which the Meech Lake Accord was struck, and especially defended, despite the disingenuous character of the arguments most often advanced for its adoption, and despite its close connection with other aspects of the federal government's political agenda which many Canadians found suspicious, the Meech Lake Accord did respond to an important issue in post-patriation constitutionalism. A review of Canadian constitutional …


Federalism And Comprehensive Environmental Reform: Seeing Beyond The Murky Medium, Rodney Northey Jan 1991

Federalism And Comprehensive Environmental Reform: Seeing Beyond The Murky Medium, Rodney Northey

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article examines the legal constraints that Canadian federalism places on comprehensive environmental reforms. Having specific regard for the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and its regulation of toxic substances, the article questions the ability of federal constitutional powers to support a broad scope for the statute. The article then examines two approaches to this problem. First, it examines an alternative vision of federalism which provides the federal government with broad environmental authority. Secondly, it examines various mechanisms of federal-provincial cooperation for their application to comprehensive environmental schemes. It concludes that these options provide enough scope to regulate environmental activities comprehensively …


The Principles Of Fundamental Justice: The Constitution And The Common Law, J. M. Evans Jan 1991

The Principles Of Fundamental Justice: The Constitution And The Common Law, J. M. Evans

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article examines the application of the principles of fundamental justice in section 7 of the Charter to administrative law, and in particular its relationship to non-constitutional grounds of judicial review. The author argues that in this area of the law the common law should generally be regarded as the source of the basic tenets of our legal system that section 7 has been said to embody. The author suggests that the traditional grounds of judicial review of administrative action represent the courts' accommodation of individual rights and the collective interest, and thus cover much the same ground as the …


The Newfoundland Offshore Reference: Federal-Provincial Conflict Over Offshore Energy Resources, Edward A. Fitzgerald Jan 1991

The Newfoundland Offshore Reference: Federal-Provincial Conflict Over Offshore Energy Resources, Edward A. Fitzgerald

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.