Disability Law Commons^™

Entangling Liberty And Equality: Critical Disability Studies, Law And Resisting Psychiatric Detention, Tess Sheldon

Dalhousie Law Journal

The Charter claims of persons with disabilities often sit precariously between sections 7 and 15. Psychiatric detention, including that pursuant to provincial mental health legislation, restricts liberty and security of the person based on the enumerated ground of disability. This project imagines opportunities to challenge state interventions that are linked to prohibited grounds of discrimination. It is inspired by Justice L’Heureux-Dubé’s “interpretive lens of equality” that understands that all Charter rights “strengthen and support each other.” The equality principle should wield significant influence on the interpretation of the protections offered by section 7. Such an approach to sections 7 and …