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Full-Text Articles in Law
Governance And Anarchy In The S.2(B) Jurisprudence: A Comment On Vancouver Sun And Harper V. Canada, Jamie Cameron
Governance And Anarchy In The S.2(B) Jurisprudence: A Comment On Vancouver Sun And Harper V. Canada, Jamie Cameron
Articles & Book Chapters
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) …
Constitutional Courage, Harry W. Arthurs
Constitutional Courage, Harry W. Arthurs
Articles & Book Chapters
In this lecture, Professor Arthurs argues that we are currently in need of "constitutional courage"-the courage to say "no" to ambitious projects of constitutional reform and constitutional litigation as a way to solve our pressing social and political problems. Professor Arthurs first lays out why our current obsession with the constitution is problematic. He insists that we do not even know what the supposed "supreme law of Canada" actually is, what it says, or even what it does. Moreover, instead of transforming society, the current "cult of constitutionalism" has only served to transform legal practice and scholarship. ei then surmises …