Constitutional law
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Erasing Constitutional White Spots
A critique of Vanessa MacDonnell’s theory of quasi-constitutional legislation One of my first posts on this blog dealt with the topic of quasi-constitutional rights and quasi-constitutional laws, in which such rights are mostly, although not exclusively, found. I have not really returned to that subject since, except in commenting on one case in which the… Continue reading
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Unhappy Camper
The shortcomings of the report into the misconduct of Justice Camp The Inquiry Committee set up by the Canadian Judicial Council to investigate whether Justice Robin Camp ― the “why didn’t keep your knees together” judge ― has “committed misconduct and placed himself, by his conduct, in a position incompatible with the due execution of… Continue reading
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Privilège parlementaire: une jurisprudence à récrire
Note. Le présent billet a d’abord paru sur À qui de droit, le blogue de la Faculté de droit de l’Université de Sherbrooke, le 19 novembre dernier. Je remercie Léonid Sirota de contribuer à sa plus grande diffusion en m’autorisant à le republier sur son excellent blogue. Je dévoile aussi le fait que j’agis, en tant que… Continue reading
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“Intolerant and Illiberal”
The BC Court of Appeal is right to insist on tolerance for an intolerant institution Continue reading
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Selfie Slow-Down
I have already blogged about one American judicial decision on the constitutionality of a “ballot selfie” ban, which has since been upheld on appeal by the Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. And I have also written about the history of the secret ballot, which in my view explains why measures to protect ballot secrecy ―… Continue reading
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More of the Same
Yet another “tough on crime” attempt to deny judges discretion about to be struck down Last week, the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench issued yet another in a long series of constitutional reverses for the previous federal government’s “tough on crime” agenda, holding in R v Ndhlovu, 2016 ABQB 595 that legislative amendments that rendered the making of… Continue reading
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The Public Confidence Fairy
Public confidence in the courts cannot be the foundation of judicial independence Judicial independence is often justified, both in the decisions of the courts and in the broader public discourse, by the need to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice. It seems to me that this justification is not compelling. To borrow Paul… Continue reading
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Unconstitutional
Thoughts on the constitutionality of the new Supreme Court appointments process In my last post, I argued that the process for appointing Supreme Court judges announced by the federal government last week is not a positive development. It will neither increase the transparency of the appointments nor de-politicize them, while creating an illusion of having done… Continue reading
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Someone’s Got to Do It
Was the Supreme Court right to change the law on the right to a speedy trial? In my last post, I summarized the Supreme Court’s decision in R. v. Jordan, 2016 SCC 27, in which the Court, by a 5-4 majority and over the vigorous disagreement of the concurrence, held that criminals prosecutions in which a… Continue reading
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Keeping Time, Time, Time
The Supreme Court changes the meaning of the right to be tried within a reasonable time A couple of weeks ago, the Supreme Court issued a very important, and fairly radical, decision on the “right … to be tried within a reasonable time,” which paragraph 11(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms grants to “any… Continue reading
Double Aspect 