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Le visage de l’oppression
Dans une décision rendue hier, S.A.S. c. France, la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme a statué que l’interdiction du voile intégral par la France n’enfreint pas la garantie de liberté religieuse de la Convention européenne des droits l’homme. Bien que les juges majoritaires soient manifestement sceptiques d’au moins certains des arguments invoqués au soutien de l’interdiction, ils acceptent…
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Mammon & Co.
I have already blogged about the question whether corporations can assert religious rights, for example to ask for exemptions from generally applicable laws if these laws contradict their ― or their owners’ ― religious beliefs. In a decision issued this morning, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, which Eugene Volokh summarizes here, the Supreme Court of…
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The Mainville Appointment Is Constitutional
It’s taken me a long time to gather my thoughts on this, but here goes, half-baked though they still are. As everybody knows, Justice Robert Mainville, of the Federal Court of Appeal, has been appointed to the Québec Court of Appeal, and Rocco Galati, the lawyer who first challenged the appointment of Justice Marc Nadon…
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Swearwords without Borders
One rather remarkable feature of the debate about the constitutionality of the citizenship oath, and more specifically of its promise of “true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada,” is that those who believe that the oath is constitutional insist that the oath really does not mean very much. Those who refuse…
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Vote On
The CBC reports that Justice Robert Sharpe of the Ontario Court of Appeal denied the federal government’s application for a stay of the Superior Court’s decision in Frank v. Canada (Attorney-General), 2014 ONSC 907, invalidating the restrictions on expatriate voting in the Canada Elections Act, which the government is appealing. I blogged about the Superior Court’s…
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St-Hilaire on Québec Judicial Appointments
I am very happy to announce that Double Aspect now features its first guest post. The post, which is below, is a comment by Maxime St-Hilaire on the (un)constitutionality of the appointment of Justice Robert Mainville to the Québec Court of Appeal. Prof. St-Hilaire teaches constitutional law and aboriginal law at the Faculty of Law…
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Le festival harpérien de l’insconstitutionnalité se poursuit : la nomination du juge Mainville à la Cour d’appel du Québec
Le vendredi 13 juin 2014, l’hon. Robert Mainville, alors juge de la Cour d’appel fédérale, a été nommé juge de la Cour d’appel du Québec par le gouverneur général sur la recommandation du premier ministre fédéral. Contrairement à ce que, jusqu’ici, ont laissé entendre certains experts et chroniqueurs, cette nomination est à notre avis inconstitutionnelle.…
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Sex and Cigarettes
In defending the provisions of the Criminal Code relative to prostitution which the Supreme Court ultimately invalidated in Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford, 2013 SCC 72, the federal government argued that their goal was to deter prostitution ― which, however, they did not criminalize. Presumably, given their effects, which were mostly to expose sex workers to violence from clients…
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People Power?
The Canadian Charter of Rights and freedoms was sold to Canadians as the “people’s package” of constitutional reform, one that would empower citizens at the expense of the legislatures and governments. And, to be sure, the provincial governments opposed it because it curtailed their powers (as well as that of the federal government). Still, I have…
Double Aspect 