Law Commons^™

St-Laurent, Judging, Justice, And The Death Penalty In The Shadow Of The Cold War, Philip Girard

Articles & Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Constituciones Duraderas – Una Crítica Democrática (Enduring Constitutions – A Democratic Critique), Allan C. Hutchinson, Joel Colon-Rios

Articles & Book Chapters

This paper argues that formal constitutions and their institutional paraphernalia do more to inhibit and mitigate the emancipatory potential of democracy than to nurture and realize it.

Spanish Abstract: La relación entre democracia y constituciones es larga y turbulenta. La tendencia de los que se inclinan hacia el lado constitucionalista ha sido la de percibir a la democracia como una amenaza al orden político y a la preservación de ciertos valores considerados importantes, mientras que los que adoptan una postura democrática, más que cualquier otra cosa, tienden a tratar a las constituciones como un obstáculo a la participación popular. En …

The Unfinished Project Of Roncarelli V. Duplessis: Justiciability, Discretion And The Limits Of The Rule Of Law, Lorne Sossin

Articles & Book Chapters

Roncarelli is remembered fifty years later particularly because of Justice Rand's now iconic statement that "there is no such thing as absolute and untrammelled discretion." Justice Rand defined "untrammelled discretion" as circumstances where action can be taken on any ground or for any reason that can be suggested to the mind of the decision maker. This statement has been understood to mean that all public regulation exercised through discretionary decision-making by executive officials has legal boundaries, and that the role of the courts is to ensure that decisions do not exceed those boundaries.In this paper, the author explores several areas …

The Business Of Bribery: Globalization, Economic Liberalization, And The ‘Problem’ Of Corruption, Margaret E. Beare, James Williams

Articles & Book Chapters

This paper is intended as a critical response to the emerging consensus within both academic and policy literatures that we are currently facing an epidemic of corruption which threatens to undermine the stability of economic and political development on both a national and global scale, and which requires both immediate and wide-ranging policy interventions. Based on a review of the publications and policy statements of the leading anti-corruption crusaders — namely the OECD, the IMF, and the World Bank — it will be argued that the recent concern with corruption is attributable, not to any substantive increase incorrupt practices, but …

“Mechanical Arts And Merchandise” Canadian Public Administration In The New Economy, Harry W. Arthurs

Articles & Book Chapters

The "New Economy", with its attendant trends and consequences, presents a number of distinct chal- lenges to Canadian public administration. The key features of the New Economy - changes in technol- ogy and the social organization of work, globalization and regional economic integration, and shifts in the boundary between the state and civil society - de- mand a reconsideration of the ways in which we have previously thought about bureaucracy, government, and the role of the interventionist state. These changes in our political economy have profoundly destabilized Canadian public administration and require us to find new ways to cope with …

Rights, Communities, And Tradition, Brian Slattery

Articles & Book Chapters

This paper argues that there is a close connection between basic human rights and communal bonds. It criticizes the philosophical views of Alan Gewirth and Alasdair MacIntyre, which in differing ways deny this connection.

The Independence Of Canada, Brian Slattery

Articles & Book Chapters

Canada is in independent state and has been for many years. Its sovereign status has long been acknowledged by the international community and the courts. So the constitutional manoeuvres that culminated in the enactment of the Constitution Act, 1982, by the British Parliament, must strike any observer as a somewhat puzzling series of events. How can we explain the fact that a sovereign state should consider itself bound to employ the legislature of another sovereign state to secure for itself a new constitution? Underlying this question are a number of fundamental issues going to the foundations of the Canadian legal …

Regulation-Making: The Creative Opportunities Of The Inevitable, Harry W. Arthurs

Articles & Book Chapters

The lawmaking process has diffused substantially in the past years, resulting in an increasing maze of departmental subordinate legislation. This phenomenon has not been accompanied by a parallel development of controls resulting in complaints about "bureaucracy", red-tape, inaccessability, and poor draftsmanship, and in demands for review and control. Professor Arthurs recognizes the practical inevitability of the system, but discusses the present situation critically, suggesting reforms which might help to make the regulatory process more compatible with "participatory democracy".