Charter
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Don’t Fix It
There is no good reason to start using the Charter’s “notwithstanding clause” Continue reading
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Why I am Not a Conservative Either
Thoughts on Chief Justice Joyal’s very interesting speech on the Charter and Canada’s political culture Continue reading
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Still Playing Favourites
Despite its broader focus, the Court Challenges Program remains objectionable Continue reading
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A Pile of Problems
A critique of Steven Penney’s take on the Supreme Court’s distinction between criminal and administrative penalties 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
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Not Such a Simple Thing
A divided Supreme Court expands the powers of search incident to arrest A couple of weeks ago, the Supreme Court issued a decision, R. v. Saeed, 2016 SCC 24, that was further evidence of its majority’s expansive views of the police’s powers of search incident to arrest ― and trust in judicially developed checklists to prevent… Continue reading
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How To Do Constitutional Adjudication
Some thoughts on Asher Honickman’s take on the judicial role As I mentioned in my previous post, I would like to respond to a number of points that Asher Honickman makes in a very interesting ― albeit, in my view, misguided ― essay written for CBA Alberta’s Law Matters and published at the website of… Continue reading
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Seven’s Sins?
A response to Asher Honickman’s take on the section 7 of the Charter In a very interesting essay written for CBA Alberta’s Law Matters and published at the website of Advocates for the Rule of Law, Asher Honickman discusses the role of the judiciary in constitutional cases, focusing on section 7 of the Canadian Charter of… Continue reading
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Originalism ― The Talk
My remarks on originalism in Canada at the Courts and Politics workshop Yesterday, I spoke about the place of originalism in Canadian constitutional jurisprudence at the Courts and Politics workshop that Kate Puddister and Emmett Macfarlane had convened at the University of Guelph. The whole things was a lot of fun and very educational, not… Continue reading
Double Aspect 