constitutional interpretation
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It’s Not What You Think
Brief responses to the most common misconceptions about originalism and its place in Canadian law Continue reading
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Who’s Afraid of the Rule of Law?
Many critics of the US Supreme Court’s decision on abortion rights themselves embrace a purely political view of adjudication Continue reading
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Constitutional Law Ruins Everything. A (sort of) response to Mancini’s “Neutrality in Legal Interpretation.”
This post is by Andrew Bernstein. No! I am not an academic nor was meant to be.Am a mere practitioner, one that will doTo settle a dispute, argue an appeal or twoWhen advising clients, the law’s my tool.Deferential, if it helps me sway the courtArgumentative, and (aspirationally) meticulous.Case-building is my professional sportTrying my hand at… Continue reading
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Guest Post: Andrew Bernstein
We continue our week of guest posts. This time, we will be posting a contribution from Andrew Bernstein (Tory’s), in response to my post last week on the ideal of neutrality in legal interpretation. Continue reading
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Neutrality in Legal Interpretation
Nowadays, it is unfashionable to say that legal rules, particularly rules of interpretation, should be “neutral.” Quite the opposite: now it is more fashionable to say that results in cases depend on the “politics” of a court on a particular day. Against this modern trend, not so long ago, it was Herbert Wechsler in his… Continue reading
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Still Keeping It Complicated
The Supreme Court tries to bring more rigour to constitutional interpretation and takes a step towards textualism, but won’t admit it Continue reading
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You Read It Here First
The Supreme Court holds that the Charter does not protect corporations against cruel and unusual punishment Continue reading
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Let Us Reason Together
A call for dialogue on constitutional interpretation, free from anti-originalist myths Continue reading
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Missing the Forest for the Living Tree
What Lord Sankey actually meant with his living tree metaphor Continue reading
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The Sex Appeal of Power
I’ve noticed a disturbing trend recently, in both politics and law. The idea is what I call the “one-way ratchet fallacy” of power. It goes like this: when an institution or entity obtains power of some kind, that power will only ever be used to fulfill certain goals rather than others. That is, people might… Continue reading
Double Aspect 