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Full-Text Articles in Law

Are National Class Actions Constitutional?: A Reply To Hogg And Mckee, Janet Walker Oct 2015

Are National Class Actions Constitutional?: A Reply To Hogg And Mckee, Janet Walker

Janet Walker

This article argues that there is no constitutional impediment to the certification of multijurisdictional class actions by provincial superior courts, and no constitutional requirement to confine plaintiff classes to those in which each claim has a real and substantial connection to the forum. Neither the text of the Constitution nor the constitutionally mandated rules of the conflict of laws restrict court jurisdiction in this way. Rather, the principles of order and fairness require Canadian courts to exercise jurisdiction over multi-jurisdictional class actions in a way that maximizes the objectives of class actions, and minimizes the incidence of overlapping classes and …


Canadian Constitutional Law, Fourth Edition, Patrick Macklem, Carol Rogerson, Joel Bakan, Jean Leclair, John Borrows, Ian Lee, Sujit Choudhry, Richard Moon, Robin Elliot, R. C. B. Risk, Jean-François Gaudreault-Desbiens, Kent Roach, Donna Greschner, Bruce Ryder, Patricia Hughes, David Schneiderman, Lorraine Weinrib Oct 2015

Canadian Constitutional Law, Fourth Edition, Patrick Macklem, Carol Rogerson, Joel Bakan, Jean Leclair, John Borrows, Ian Lee, Sujit Choudhry, Richard Moon, Robin Elliot, R. C. B. Risk, Jean-François Gaudreault-Desbiens, Kent Roach, Donna Greschner, Bruce Ryder, Patricia Hughes, David Schneiderman, Lorraine Weinrib

Bruce B. Ryder

In its 4th edition, Canadian Constitutional Law continues to offer a truly national perspective — drawing on an editorial team that is rich with regional, linguistic, and scholarly diversity. This edition remains true to the structure and purposes of previous editions, especially with regard to the editors’ commitment to the idea that understanding constitutional history is critical to comprehending the present and future of Canadian constitutional law.


Does The Observer Have An Effect?: An Analysis Of The Use Of The Dialogue Metaphor In Canada's Courts, Richard Haigh, Michael Sobkin Oct 2015

Does The Observer Have An Effect?: An Analysis Of The Use Of The Dialogue Metaphor In Canada's Courts, Richard Haigh, Michael Sobkin

Richard Haigh

In "Charter Dialogue Revisited-Or 'Much Ado About Metaphors,"' it is noted that the original idea behind the dialogue metaphor was simply to describe Canada's constitutional structure. Despite this, the metaphor has been criticized for having normative content and influencing courts and legislatures. In this commentary, the authors analyze all Supreme Court of Canada and lower court uses of the dialogue metaphor and conclude that, with some exceptions, the courts have employed the metaphor properly, i.e., descriptively. Since, however, the metaphor can be misapplied-used other than to describe or explain the relationship between the courts and legislatures in Canada-the authors recommend …


Governance And Anarchy In The S.2(B) Jurisprudence: A Comment On Vancouver Sun And Harper V. Canada, Jamie Cameron Oct 2015

Governance And Anarchy In The S.2(B) Jurisprudence: A Comment On Vancouver Sun And Harper V. Canada, Jamie Cameron

Jamie Cameron

The article identifies and explains a double standard in the Supreme Court of Canada jurisprudence. The contrast is between the open court jurisprudence, which is a model of good constitutional governance – or principled decision making – and the Court’s s.2(b) methodology, which is “anarchistic” or capricious and undisciplined, in the sense of this article. Two landmark cases decided in 2004 illustrate the double standard: the first is Re Vancouver Sun, [2004] 2 S.C.R. 332, which dealt with the open court principle under Parliament’s anti-terrorism provision for investigative hearings, it represents a high water mark for open court and s.2(b) …


The Charter And Criminal Justice: Twenty-Five Years Later, Jamie Cameron, James Stribopoulos Oct 2015

The Charter And Criminal Justice: Twenty-Five Years Later, Jamie Cameron, James Stribopoulos

Jamie Cameron

When the Charter of Rights and Freedoms turned twenty-five in 2007, Professors Jamie Cameron and James Stribopoulos organized a conference which brought together leading thinkers on the Charterand criminal justice. A strong faculty of academics, judges and practitioners debated and discussed the Charter's impact on criminal justice. The papers from this conference, which have now been edited by Professors Cameron and Stribopoulos, provide a fascinating look at how the Charter has transformed the Canadian criminal justice system.


"Simply A Constitutional Legal Question?": Law, Religion And The Modern State, Benjamin L. Berger Sep 2015

"Simply A Constitutional Legal Question?": Law, Religion And The Modern State, Benjamin L. Berger

Benjamin L. Berger

Benjamin L. Berger, Associate Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, on key questions about law, religion, and social change.


Unsettled Legacy: Thirty Years Of Criminal Justice Under The Charter, Benjamin Berger, James Stribopoulos Sep 2015

Unsettled Legacy: Thirty Years Of Criminal Justice Under The Charter, Benjamin Berger, James Stribopoulos

Benjamin L Berger

After thirty years, what effect has the Charter had on the justness of the Canadian criminal justice system? This thought-provoking collection of essays by a group of leading criminal law scholars explores that very question, critically examining the ways in which the Charter has shaped Canadian criminal law and its administration. Edited by Professors Benjamin L. Berger and James Stribopoulos of Osgoode Hall Law School, these essays offer insight into every facet of the Charter's influence over how crimes are defined, investigated and prosecuted. The result is an invaluable resource for scholars, practitioners and judges interested in criminal justice in …


Law's Religion: Rendering Culture, Benjamin L. Berger Sep 2015

Law's Religion: Rendering Culture, Benjamin L. Berger

Benjamin L. Berger

This article argues that constitutional law's inability to deal with religion in a satisfying way flows, in part, from its failure to understand religion as, in a robust sense, culture. Once one begins to understand the Canadian constitutional rule of law itself as a cultural form, it becomes apparent that law renders religion in a very particular fashion, and that this rendering is a product of law's symbolic categories and interpretive horizons. This article draws out the elements of Canadian constitutionalism's unique rendering of religion and argues that, although Canadian constitutionalism claims to understand religion as a culture, this is …