The Death Penalty Around the World About 140 countries have permanently abolished the death penalty. Some 50 countries have it on the books but don’t use it; 36 countries continue to use the death penalty, and 22 of these carried out executions in 2013. Japan and the United States are the only … [Read more...]
Bench Press 39-4: The Charter Protects Proms
Two graduating high school students in Ontario launched a Charter challenge to their school principal’s decision to have a mandatory breathalyser test at their prom. They argued that the mandatory test was a violation of their s. 8 Charter right to be free of unreasonable search and seizure. Justice … [Read more...]
Prostitution Law in Canada: Will the Charter Dialogue Continue?
Constitutional law experts, such as Peter Hogg, speak about the relationship between the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) and Parliament as a “dialogue”. Parliament passes a law, which might later be challenged as being contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”). Often, after … [Read more...]
Human Rights of Transgender Persons
Transgender persons are recognized in medicine as those who are born with the physical attributes of one gender, but who know at a deep level that their physical bodies do not match their inner gender. Federal and provincial human rights laws often protect transgender persons from discrimination in … [Read more...]
The Whatcott Case: Balancing Free Speech and Social Harmony
Introduction: a Clash of Rights The freedoms of conscience, religion, thought, belief, opinion and expression comprise some of our “fundamental freedoms” listed in section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They assure the free exchange of ideas, the practice of one’s faith, the development … [Read more...]
Landmark Cases: Cases which have changed the Legal and Social Landscape of Canada
Judgments may constitute landmark decisions in the social context of their time such as the Persons Case (Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General), 1930 ) — where the Privy Council determined that women were eligible to be appointed to the Senate — but may not seem so very startling to our modern … [Read more...]
A Progress Report of Disability Rights since the Charter
In 1982, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms formally enshrined equality rights into the Canadian constitution. Section 15 of the Charter reads: “every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in … [Read more...]
Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining: Are There Justifiable Limits?
For several years, public service employees have been restricted in their right to strike, in order to preserve their “essential” services. However, some argue that recent changes to Alberta’s public service labour legislation unjustifiably interfere with several rights under the Canadian Charter of … [Read more...]
The Intersection of Law, Language and Culture
Introduction When we think of the intersection of law and language, most of us reflect on the linguistic sides of the issue, such as: questions about why law-makers use certain words as opposed to others, queries about ‘legalese’, and problems of misunderstanding, interpretation and translation. … [Read more...]
Human Rights and Québec’s Charter of Values
On Thursday, November 7, 2013, the Québec government tabled its Charter of Values, Bill 60. The Bill provides that public body personnel must maintain religious neutrality in the exercise of their functions. It also restricts personnel from wearing objects “such as headgear, clothing, jewelry or … [Read more...]