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Full-Text Articles in Law
Equal, But Only Conceptually: Explaining The Phenomenon Of Religious Losses In Contemporary Canadian Constitutional Cases Involving Conflicting Rights, Mike Madden
Dalhousie Law Journal
If there is no hierarchy of rights in Canada, then why does freedom of religion so often seem to lose in cases of conflicts with other rights? This article discusses five recent Canadian cases (involving same-sex marriages, controversial medical practices, the wearing of a niqab, and a Christian university’s sexual conduct policy) in order to expose how the courts regularly characterize freedom of religion as being conceptually equal to other rights, before ruling against freedom of religion on the facts of the particular cases. This phenomenon within Canadian rights jurisprudence is then justified within the article by reference to a …
Reassessing The Constitutional Foundation Of Delegated Legislation In Canada, Lorne Neudorf
Reassessing The Constitutional Foundation Of Delegated Legislation In Canada, Lorne Neudorf
Dalhousie Law Journal
This article assesses the constitutionalfoundation by which Parliament lends its lawmaking powers to the executive, which rests upon a century-old precedent established by the Supreme Court of Canada in a constitutional challenge to wartime legislation. While the case law demonstrates that courts have continued to follow this earlyprecedent to allow theparliamentary delegation of sweeping lawmaking powers to the executive, it is time for courts to reassess the constitutionality ofdelegation in light ofCanada's status as a liberal democracy embedded within a system of constitutional supremacy. Under the Constitution of Canada, Parliament is placed firmly at the centre ofpublic policymaking by being …
The Impact Of The Honour Of The Crown On The Ethical Obligations Of Government Lawyers: A Duty Of Honourable Dealing, Andrew Flavelle Martin, Candice Telfer
The Impact Of The Honour Of The Crown On The Ethical Obligations Of Government Lawyers: A Duty Of Honourable Dealing, Andrew Flavelle Martin, Candice Telfer
Dalhousie Law Journal
The honour of the Crown is recognized as a Canadian constitutional principle that is essential to reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. As part of the process of reconciliation, this article argues that the honour of the Crown imposes a special ethical obligation on government lawyers in specific circumstances, which we call the duty of honourable dealing. We situate this duty in the divided literature and case law about whether government lawyers have special ethical obligations and in the two dimensions in which the honour of the Crown applies: the Crown as an institution and the Crown as a collection …
Canadian Constitutional Identities, Eric M. Adams
Canadian Constitutional Identities, Eric M. Adams
Dalhousie Law Journal
Constitutions are stories nations tell about themselves. Despite the famous declaration in the Constitution Act, 1867 that the "Provinces ofCanada...Desire...a Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom," most of Canada's constitutional history can be understood as the search for a distinctly Canadian constitutional identity Canadians have always looked to their constitutional instruments to both reflect and produce a particular vision of the nation and its citizens. This article focuses on the search for Canada s constitutional identity during its first century as a nation, from Confederation until the 1960s. Drawing on a varied array of sources and …
The Myth Of Jus Tractatus In La Belle Province: Quebec's Gérin-Lajoie Statement, Stéphane Beaulac
The Myth Of Jus Tractatus In La Belle Province: Quebec's Gérin-Lajoie Statement, Stéphane Beaulac
Dalhousie Law Journal
There is much debate in Quebec challenging the traditional stance on jus tractatus," prevalent for nearly 100 years, to the effect that the federal government enjoys plenary power to enter into international treaties, whether the subject matter is federal or provincial. The paper argues that Quebec's Gdrin-Lajoie "doctrine" has become a myth over the years, liable to have a huge semiotic effect, creating the perception that there is an incontestably true legal basis for provincial treatymaking power After dwelling upon the ontological understanding of mythology, the author shows that the constitutional practice since the emancipation from Great Britain, as well …
Peter Aucoin, Mark D.Jarvis &Lori Turnbull, Democratizing The Constitution: Reforming Responsible Government, Gregory Tardi
Peter Aucoin, Mark D.Jarvis &Lori Turnbull, Democratizing The Constitution: Reforming Responsible Government, Gregory Tardi
Dalhousie Law Journal
In the aftermath of the Prorogation of Parliament on December 4, 2008, upon the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to then Governor General Michaelle Jean, a particular theme in Canadian literature about governance has flourished. This theme is the influence ofconstitutionalism, democracy and legitimacy on government and politics. In the view of many scholars there is a serious imbalance between the executive branch on one hand and the legislative branch on the other. The sense ofimbalance has generated proposals for changes to the practice of Westminster-style parliamentary democracy in the service of democratic legitimacy.
The National Class As Extraterritorial Legislation, Jeffrey Haylock
The National Class As Extraterritorial Legislation, Jeffrey Haylock
Dalhousie Law Journal
This article argues that provincially constituted multijurisdictional class actions violate the constitutional law of extraterritoriality. It begins with a brief overview of the lawof adjudicativejurisdiction, then provides a longer overviewof the separate body of law that imposes extraterritorial limits on substantive provincial legislation. The author then demonstrates the substantive characterof classaction legislation, which necessarily entails the applicability of the law ofextraterritoriality However, much of the relevant jurisprudence, as well as some of the relevant academic literature, has ignored this important issue.Application ofthe lawofextraterritoriality does, indeed, raise serious constitutional concerns, as the article's central section demonstrates. The desirable efficiencies of national …
A Proposed Transjudicial Approach To S. 15(2) Charter Adjudication, Vanita Goela
A Proposed Transjudicial Approach To S. 15(2) Charter Adjudication, Vanita Goela
Dalhousie Law Journal
Canada and India are both pluralistic democracies with diverse populations. Both countries have drafted constitutional provisions which enshrine equality rights and permit affirmative action. In India, various disadvantaged groups receive special protection from the Constitution of India, such as the Other Backward Classes (OBC). The Supreme Court of India has held that States and the Central government must identify the "creamy layer" within the OBC category so that reservations target members who are most in need. Otherwise, the OBC category is overinclusive. The creamy layer includes those who are socially and economically advanced and who no longer require the benefits …
Something To Talk About: Is There A Charter Right To Access Government Information?, Vincent Kazmierski
Something To Talk About: Is There A Charter Right To Access Government Information?, Vincent Kazmierski
Dalhousie Law Journal
Can sections 2(b) and 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms be interpreted to protect a constitutional right of access to government information? The author argues that the constitutional principle of democracy provides a foundation for judicial recognition of such a constitutional right of access even though the inclusion ofan explicit right to access to government information was rejected during the process of drafting the Charter Given that the Supreme Court of Canada's section 2(b) and 3 jurisprudence has been informed by the principle of democracy, the application of the principle may now guide the Court to include …
Constitutional Realism About Constitutional Protection: Indigenous Rights Under A Judicialized And A Politicized Constitution, Matthew Sr Palmer
Constitutional Realism About Constitutional Protection: Indigenous Rights Under A Judicialized And A Politicized Constitution, Matthew Sr Palmer
Dalhousie Law Journal
This article assesses the comparative effectiveness of constitutional protection of indigenous rights in Canada and New Zealand using a perspective of "constitutional realism". The two constitutions offer a useful contrast of similar systems distinguished by distinctly contrasting directions over the past twentyfive years. The reality of Canadas constitutional development has seen more power accrue to the judicial branch of government. The reality of New Zealand's constitutional development has seen more power accrue to the political branches ofgovernment. The article considers the reality of the behaviour of these branches of government in each jurisdiction in relation to indigenous rights. It finds …
Deciding In The Heat Of The Constitutional Moment Constitutional Meaning And Change In The Quebec Secession Reference, Jonathon W. Penney
Deciding In The Heat Of The Constitutional Moment Constitutional Meaning And Change In The Quebec Secession Reference, Jonathon W. Penney
Dalhousie Law Journal
The Quebec Secession Reference addressed divisive issues with far-reaching implications for the Canadian constitutional order. Recently, commentators have called for a less traditional and more systematic approach to understanding the decision, and its place in the broader scheme of Canadian constitutionalism. Accordingly, this paper challenges the predominant narrative concerning the Quebec Secession Reference, which is largely judge-centred and shows little regard for the important historical, political, and popular forces so crucial to understanding the decision. The challenge is mounted through the work of Yale constitutional scholar Bruce Ackerman and his theory of constitutional moments. This paper uses Ackerman's criteria of …
Charterwithout Borders? The Supreme Court Of Canada, Transnational Crime And Constitutional Rights And Freedoms, Robert J. Currie
Charterwithout Borders? The Supreme Court Of Canada, Transnational Crime And Constitutional Rights And Freedoms, Robert J. Currie
Dalhousie Law Journal
The first decades of the Supreme Court of Canada's Charter jurisprudence have coincided roughly with an increase in the extent to which Canada is affected by transnational crime and the nation s consequential participation in inter-state efforts to combat it. The Court itself has remarked on its discrete "jurisprudence on matters involving Canada's international co-operation in criminal investigations and prosecutions." This article examines the Court s adoption of a different approach to Charter analysis in cases involving transnational elements and surveys where the Court has "drawn the line" in terms of Charter application. By way of analyzing jurisprudence on exclusion …
Australasian Law And Canadian Statutes In The Nineteenth Century: A Study Of The Movement Of Colonial Legislation Between Jurisdictions, Jeremy Finn
Dalhousie Law Journal
This paper considers the use between 1850 and 1900 by Anglo-Canadian legislatures of legislative precedents from the Australian and New Zealand colonies and argues that while a wide range of Australasian laws were considered by Canadian legislators, the most significant Australasian influences are to be found in mining law, electoral and constitutional law and land law The paper goes on to explore, by use of archival, parliamentary and published materials, the processes by which Canadian legislators acquired their knowledge of these Australasian initiatives. While governmental and institutional channels (including the Colonial Office) played a significant part in the transmission of …
Salvaging The Welfare State?: The Prospects For Judicial Review Of The Canada Health & Social Transfer, Lorne Sossin
Salvaging The Welfare State?: The Prospects For Judicial Review Of The Canada Health & Social Transfer, Lorne Sossin
Dalhousie Law Journal
The Canadian Health and Social Transfer ("CHST"), which came into force on April 1, 1996, contains no national standards relating to the quality of social welfare. The goal of this new transfer was to promote provincial flexibility in the sphere of social policy. The author argues that this flexibility may undermine the core of the Canadian welfare state. Given the preoccupation of the provincial and federal governments with devolution, welfare recipients must turn to the judiciary to determine the "bottom line" of the welfare state. The author explores the various constitutional and administrative law grounds on which the federal government's …
The Language Question In A Rainbow Nation: The South African Experience, Albie L. Sachs
The Language Question In A Rainbow Nation: The South African Experience, Albie L. Sachs
Dalhousie Law Journal
In this, the twenty-second annual Horace E. Read Memorial Lecture, Mr. Justice Albie Sachs reviews the efforts to resolve problems of multilingualism in the new Constitution of South Africa. Writing from experience in the constitution-making process, he reflects on the reality of eleven different languages in South Africa. He discusses the consequent problems of legislative strategy and linguistic rights and the appropriate balance amongst language rights, policy and practice.
Mélanges Jean Beetz, Teresa Scassa
Mélanges Jean Beetz, Teresa Scassa
Dalhousie Law Journal
Melanges Jean Beetz is a collection of essays honouring the late Supreme Court of Canadajudge who died in 1991 after a lengthy battle with illness. The timing of the publication of the book, some five years after his death, places the work within what is perhaps a fitting social and political context. The constitutional crises that have plagued this country continue in what seems to be a period of heightened alienation between Quebec and the rest of Canada. An exploration of the contribution of Justice Beetz to the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Canada may be of assistance in …
The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change?, Ian Holloway
The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change?, Ian Holloway
Dalhousie Law Journal
Coming as it does in the midst of all the palaver over political correctness within the American academic community, The Hollow Hope is, if nothing else, an opportune articulation of iconoclasm in the debate over civil rights and constitutional law in the United States.' Professor Rosenberg's questioning of the "cult of the court" provides a welcome expression of healthy skepticism towards an institution which conventional myth reveres beyond its due.
Does Canada Need A Social Charter?, Matthew Certosimo
Does Canada Need A Social Charter?, Matthew Certosimo
Dalhousie Law Journal
Over the decade since the birth of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, expectations that it would impact greatly on the lives of Canadians have gone largely unfulfilled for those regarded as being the most in need of its protection. A recent decision of the Nova Scotia County Court has reminded critics that the narrow interpretation given the Charter'se quality2 and security oftheperson3 provisions, particularly with regard to social and economic rights, excludes from its purview the well-being of Canadians in economic need.
Canadian Constitutional Law And Madame Justice Bertha Wilson - Patriot, Visionary And Heretic, James Macpherson
Canadian Constitutional Law And Madame Justice Bertha Wilson - Patriot, Visionary And Heretic, James Macpherson
Dalhousie Law Journal
In the remainder of this paper I will consider Justice Wilson's contribution to Canadian constitutional law. The paper has three parts. Each has a different theme, although the themes overlap in places. I have given these themes labels, each reflecting, I believe, a significant feature of Justice Wilson's constitutional thinking and writing. The labels are Justice Wilson as - Patriot, Visionary and Heretic. In the next three parts of this paper I will deal with each of these themes, with reference principally to her decisions in Charter cases but also with occasional references to her decisions in other categories of …
The Reunification Of Germany: Comments On A Legal Maze, Jutta Brunnée
The Reunification Of Germany: Comments On A Legal Maze, Jutta Brunnée
Dalhousie Law Journal
In its Preamble, the Basic Law - the constitution - of the Federal Republic of Germany declares itself a transitional order put in place until all Germans can freely decide to live in a reunified Germany. The Preamble is evidence of both history and aspirations of the western part of Germany that emerged from the Second World War. It is now one of the legal foundations for an event that only a year ago few thought was possible: the merging of the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany into one German state. In its preamble and in …
Critical Legal Theory And The Politics Of Pragmatism, Peter D. Swan
Critical Legal Theory And The Politics Of Pragmatism, Peter D. Swan
Dalhousie Law Journal
In this century mainstream legal scholarship in the United States has been subjected to various "crises of confidence" over the nature of the adjudication process. One of the key features of more traditional legal scholarship has been a belief in legal texts such as the constitution, statutes and precedents which are said to possess discrete and objective meaning capable of being discovered by objective detached observers. This belief in the authority of the text has been most clearly expressed in American constitutional law scholarship which has been dominated until recently by the quest to reveal the public moral values that …
The Politics Of The Imagination: A Life Of F.R. Scott, J King Gordon
The Politics Of The Imagination: A Life Of F.R. Scott, J King Gordon
Dalhousie Law Journal
The task of a biographer is a challenging one at best. And when the subject is one who has achieved distinction in many fields the difficulties are magnified many times. Better, perhaps, to settle for a Festschift where colleagues and friends in fields in which the subject has excelled join together to pay their separate tributes. So in the case of Frank Scott and his biographer, Sandra Djwa. She is a professor of literature and has achieved recognition for the work she has done on the writings and life of E.J. Pratt. It was undoubtedly Frank Scott, the distinguished Canadian …
Constitutional Law (Kempo), Jutta Brunnée
Constitutional Law (Kempo), Jutta Brunnée
Dalhousie Law Journal
In 1976 Carl Heymanns Verlag published the first volume of a series on Japanese law. A recent addition to this collection covering areas as diverse as civil and criminal procedure, labor law, nuclear energy law, and international law, is Miyazawa Toshiyoshi's (1899-1976) book on constitutional law. With this German translation, Robert Heuser and Yamasaki Kazuaki provide their readers with the first systematical overview on Japanese constitutional law in a western language.
Constitutional Protection Of The Right To An Education, William F. Foster, Gayle Pinheiro
Constitutional Protection Of The Right To An Education, William F. Foster, Gayle Pinheiro
Dalhousie Law Journal
The education of its citizenry is often recognized as one of the most important public services provided by the state. The history of the rise and development of public education in the provinces of Canada reveals, above all, the influence of the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. The educational philosophy, aims and broader objectives of the public education system reflected the moral and religious doctrines of the faith which had sponsored the founding of the institution. Yet there also existed a pervasive belief among the general populace in the power of education to support and nourish basic democratic values. Moreover, …