Constitutional law
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Charter, Meet Google
Josh Blackman has just published a fascinating new essay, “What Happens if Data Is Speech?” in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law Online, asking some important questions about how courts should treat ― and how we should think about ― attempts to regulate the (re)creation and arrangement of information by “algorithms parsing data” (25).… Continue reading
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Reticence and Power
The Supreme Court of Canada is in the habit of “suspending” its declarations of unconstitutionality of legislation, especially controversial or important legislation, ostensibly in order to give the legislature which enacted the statute at issue time to re-write it so as to remove the constitutional defect while preserving as much of the substance of the… Continue reading
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You Don’t Have Two Cows
The laws of Ontario prohibit the sale or “distribution” of unpasteurized milk or products (like cheese) made from unpasteurized milk. Such milk can contain microbes and cause the people who drink it or eat products made from it to become ill. But some people are prepared to take the risk. They even claim, although without… Continue reading
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Charte de la honte et fédéralisme (II)
J’ai soutenu hier, me fondant sur l’arrêt de la Cour suprême dans Saumur c. City of Québec, [1953] 2 SCR 299, que la constitution ne permet pas aux provinces d’adopter des lois dont le caractère véritable consiste à limiter la liberté de religion (même si elles peuvent adopter des lois qui ont la limitation de la liberté… Continue reading
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Date fixée
Comme prévu, les élections générales provinciales auront lieu le 7 avril prochain, la Première Ministre Pauline Marois ayant ce matin demandé au lieutenant-gouverneur de dissoudre l’Assemblée nationale. Le 7 avril? Mais qu’en est-il de cette loi sur les élections à date fixe que le gouvernement de Mme. Marois avait fait adopter il n’ a pas de… Continue reading
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La Charte de la honte et le fédéralisme (I)
J’ai déjà soutenu que, dans la mesure où elle serait justifiée comme une mesure de lutte à l’intégrisme religieux, la Charte de la honte du Parti québécois excède les compétences législatives du Québec. Cependant, il semble improbable que l’argument, manifestement fallacieux, de la lutte à l’intégrisme soit en fait invoqué devant les tribunaux pour justifier… Continue reading
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The Bill Is Due
In yesterday’s post on R. v. Cloud, 2014 QCCQ 464, I bemoaned the lack of property protections in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, arguing that, as Cloud demonstrated, it hurt the poor rather than the well-off. However, while property rights are not mentioned in the Charter, section 1 of the Canadian Bill of Rights… Continue reading
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Greed Is Not Good
Many bad things have been said about the “victim surcharge” which the Criminal Code requires people found guilty of an offence to pay, and which recent amendments have made mandatory, depriving judges of any discretion to waive it, regardless of whether it represented a disproportionate punishment for a minor offence or would cause great hardship… Continue reading
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ID OK
It seems like a long time since I’ve blogged about a court decision, especially one not by the Supreme Court. Today is a perfect day to return to that particular genre, because the decision I want to write about, Henry v. Canada (Attorney General), 2014 BCCA 30, concerns the constitutionality of voter identification requirements for… Continue reading
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Not Established
I wrote in my last post about a brief recently submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that an act of Congress which exempts religious believers from the application of any law that interferes with their religious beliefs and practices unless the law is the least restrictive means to realize a compelling government objective is… Continue reading
Double Aspect 