The Justice System
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Off Course
In my post on Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford, 2013 SCC 72, the Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down the prostitution-related provisions of the Criminal Code, I said I would have some thoughts on what this decision means for the future of Charter-based judicial review in Canada. As Churchill said, it is a dangerous thing to make predictions, especially… Continue reading
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Cross-Purposes
I wrote some time ago about the challenges, legal and political, to the appointment of Justice Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court. I argued that although the appointment was unwise because Justice Nadon did not bring enough to the Court, the legal challenge to it, on the basis that he did not fulfill the requirements… Continue reading
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The Right Person to Ask
There was an interesting op-ed in yesterday’s Globe by Adam Dodek, arguing that the mechanism which the federal government has devised for bringing greater transparency to the appointment of new Supreme Court judges, namely the interview of the new appointee by a special committee of the House of Commons, is a failure, and that instead… Continue reading
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Tempest in a Teapot
I’m quite late to the topic, but I want to say something about the debacle that is Justice Nadon’s appointment to the Supreme Court. The government’s decision to appoint him is being attacked both legally and politically, and while the political criticism cannot undo it, the legal challenge could, in theory, and has already forced… Continue reading
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No Boondoggle
In his otherwise sensible recent column about the appointment of Justice Nadon to the Supreme Court, the Globe’s Jeffrey Simpson describes the office of supernumerary judge (which Justice Nadon held prior to his appointment) “is one of the biggest boondoggles in the public sector.” This is quite wrong, silly even. Supernumerary judges are actually a… Continue reading
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A Chance for Justice
I have written a good deal about access to justice and the related issue of self-represented litigants. These problems are very difficult; I doubt that any quick solutions can be found for them, and it doesn’t help that, as I wrote here, the complexities that must be dealt with are often forgotten. These problems are… Continue reading
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Facing Justice ― English Version
I wrote last year about the Supreme Court’s decision on whether a witness in a criminal proceeding could testify while wearing a niqab, a full-face veil, R. v. N.S., 2012 SCC 72, [2012] 3 SCR 726. Of course, the questions about balancing trial fairness and freedom of religion which the Court had to confront in that case do not only… Continue reading
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Difference in Deference
After the sad distraction of the repressive “Québec Values Charter” on which I spent the last week, it is time to return to my more customary business of constitutional law and theory. It will no doubt be very bad for the blog’s traffic, but very good for my mood. There is a good occasion for… Continue reading
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Sociétés Anonymes?
I have posted a number of times about the problem of (unwanted) publicity which the appearance of one’s name in judicial decisions might bring (my posts on this topic are collected here). Because judicial decisions are widely and freely available on the internet, being identified as a party to a lawsuit can damage one employment… Continue reading
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Hercules and the Umpire
Readers may have already come across it, but I hadn’t until a few days ago, and in case others haven’t yet, I wanted to recommend a wonderful blog by Richard Kopf, an American federal district court judge, called Hercules and the Umpire. As judge Kopf explains, I hope the title evokes an image of two… Continue reading
Double Aspect 