Constitutional law
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The Market for Political Lemons
Andrew Coyne is right that political promise-breaking can be a big problem, but he might still be wrong about it needing to be solved. Continue reading
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Tell Them Carefully
Cross-border disclosure of wiretaps survives the scrutiny of a (politely) divided Supreme Court. Continue reading
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L’Affaire Mainville: The Québec Factum
Some serious flaws in Québec’s arguments against the constitutionality of Justice Mainville’s appointment to the Québec Court of Appeal. Continue reading
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The Elephant in the Room : l’inexplicable constitutionnalité de l’intégralité des traités modernes
À l’occasion de ma série de billets sur l’arrêt Tsilhqot’in, j’avais affirmé que, si elle devait être tenue pour cruciale, la question de la portée précise de la compétence fédérale exclusive sur les autochtones et des conditions auxquelles les provinces peuvent constitutionnellement intervenir en ce domaine qu’est le droit des autochtones n’avait pourtant toujours pas trouvé… Continue reading
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St-Hilaire on Federalism and “Modern Treaties”
Just a quick announcement of an upcoming guest post by Maxime St-Hilaire, a friend who teaches aboriginal law and constitutional law at the Université de Sherbrooke. Prof. St-Hilaire, who blogged this summer on the Supreme Court’s decision in Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia, 2014 SCC 44, will discuss some issues left open by the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence… Continue reading
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Bar This Claim
A couple of recent cases that the Québec Court of Appeal should consider in deciding whether to let the Barreau’s challenge to mandatory minimums go forward. Continue reading
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Kingsley & Mayrand on Election Law
I had the chance to attend a great talk at McGill yesterday, with the former and current Chief Electoral Officers, Jean-Pierre Kingsley and Marc Mayrand, speaking and exchanging views on the past, present, and future challenges of election law in Canada. It was great, and especially interesting in that their two perspectives, while similar, were… Continue reading
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Mainville Reference Factums
Thanks to the good offices of a friend, I have been able to get my hands on the factums filed in the Mainville Reference, in which the Québec Court of Appeal will consider the constitutionality of the appointment of a judge of the federal courts to a superior court of Québec ― and, more specifically,… Continue reading
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Quasi-Meaningless
In one of my very first posts, I wondered what the Supreme Court meant by describing a statute, or a common-law right, as “quasi-constitutional.” I concluded that this description probably did not mean anything substantial, and was little more than an indication that the Court considered the statute or right in question as very important. Its decision… Continue reading
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Unintended Consequences?
When I commented on the oral arguments in Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2014 SCC 59, the B.C. hearing fees case, I argued that although there was a good deal of support among the various parties and interveners for the proposition that it was section 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867,… Continue reading
Double Aspect 