scholarly journals The Judges Reference and the Secession Reference at Twenty: Reassessing the Supreme Court of Canada's Unfinished Unwritten Constitutional Principles Project

2019 ◽  
pp. 1077
Author(s):  
(Alyn) James Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Unwritten Rule ◽  
Interpretive Framework

Upon the 20-year anniversary of the Reference re Remuneration of Judges of the Provincial Court of Prince Edward Island and the Reference re Secession of Quebec, the author reflects on the methodology utilized by the Supreme Court of Canada to reach dramatic conclusions on the basis of unwritten constitutional principles in these cases. An analysis of several decisions leading up to the Judges Reference and the Secession Reference establish a pattern of reasoning from the abstract to the concrete, from unwritten principle to unwritten rule. However, these decisions lack in methodological self-reflection as they utilize unwritten principles to reach particular outcomes without situating the analysis in a larger interpretive framework. The author seeks to clarify this uncertainty by suggesting a methodological framework entitled “reasoning from constitutional essentials.” This methodology can assist in understanding the analytical framework used by courts to identify and reach conclusions on the basis of unwritten constitutional principles.

The Compensation of Wrongful Pregnancy in Québec Civil Law

1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (01) ◽  
pp. 61-82
Author(s):  
Louise Langevin
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Child Rearing ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Reproductive Autonomy ◽  
Canadian Charter ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Cost

AbstractThe Supreme Court of Canada has recognized the right to reproductive autonomy for women based on the right to liberty protected by section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Thus, it is a woman's choice whether to have children. It follows, therefore, that in the case of a violation of her reproductive autonomy, a woman has a right to compensation. It is in light of these principles that I analyze the wrongful pregnancy cases in Québec civil law. From a feminist analytical framework, I posit that Québec courts have effectively denied women the right to reproductive autonomy by awarding compensation for the cost of child-rearing only in cases where a difficult economic situation is evidenced by the parents. In so doing, the courts have not only refused to fully compensate women for the injuries caused to them, but they continue to reproduce the dominant pronatalist ideology in reproductive matters. This judicial reaction to cases of wrongful pregnancy is another example of the gendered dimension of law.

scholarly journals The Eve Decision — A Common Law Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 657-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward W. Keyserlingk
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Medical Procedures ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Mentally Disabled ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Parens Patriae ◽  
The Law ◽  
Do So

By its decision in the Eve case, the Supreme Court of Canada clarified and settled the law in at least two important respects. From now on, provincial statutes can only be used to authorize guardians to permit involuntary contraceptive sterilizations if their wording clearly and explicitly so provides. The Prince Edward Island statute in question did not do so. Secondly, though the Court's parens patriae jurisdiction is of unlimited scope and does extend to cases involving medical procedures, it cannot serve as the basis for authorizing non-therapeutic sterilizations. By ruling out the applicability of parens patriae, and by insisting that judges are not able to deal adequately with such cases, the Supreme Court may have strengthened the case for new legislation in this area. The writer argues that such legislation should provide for access to contraceptive sterilization for the mentally disabled, and the needed safeguards to protect those unable to consent or refuse from the imposition of sterilization in the interests of parties other than themselves.

scholarly journals Imperial Tobacco and Trial Lawyers: An Unstable and Unsuccessful Retreat

2019 ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
(Alyn) James Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Architectural Model ◽  
Textual Approach ◽  
Organizing Principles

The Supreme Court of Canada established an architectural model of the Constitution through the Reference re Remuneration of Judges of the Provincial Court of Prince Edward Island and the Reference re Secession of Quebec. This model has an informing core of “organizing principles” engaging both written and unwritten rules. These two decisions and earlier landmark rulings have used unwritten principles to reach dramatic conclusions. Yet, the Supreme Court departs from this line of authority in Imperial Tobacco in which a strong textual approach is taken. The author argues this decision led to instability in constitutional doctrine that was further complicated in Trial Lawyers. This article explores the strengths of the Judges Reference and the Secession Reference and the need to uphold the use of unwritten constitutional principles while calling for the Imperial Tobacco case to be set aside.

scholarly journals Vriend v. Alberta, Law v. Canada, Ontario v. M. and H.: The Latest Steps on the Winding Path to Substantive Equality

1969 ◽  
pp. 683
Author(s):  
Craig D. Bavis
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Equality Rights ◽  
Substantive Equality ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Significant Case ◽  
The Law

This article traces the continuing development of the analytical framework used by the Supreme Court of Canada to evaluate infringements of equality rights challenged under s. 15(1) of the Charter. This is achieved through examining the Court's recent decisions in Vriend, Law, and M. v. H. in the context of the claims heard in Andrews, the 'equality trilogy' of Miron, Egan, and Thibaudeau, and the subsequent equality cases heard by the Court. This article follows the initial analytical framework introduced in Andrews, through the Court's split in 1995. It then examines subsequent cases, finding that Vriend stands as a significant case in the evolution, and that the Court's restatement of its method in Law demonstrates a renewal of the Court's unanimous commitment to substantive equality as first articulated in Andrews and indicates that the troubling position favoured by a minority of judges in 1995 has been abandoned. In examining the application of the Law analysis in M. v. H., this article recognizes the possibility that the approach may be too subjective and warns that undue focus on legislative purpose instead of effect may undermine substantive equality.

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