From Democracy to Judicial Dictatorship in Canada

From Democracy to Judicial Dictatorship in Canada PDF Author: Patrick Redmond
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781795581646
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
FROM DEMOCRACY TOJUDICIAL DICTATORSHIP IN CANADA:THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE CHARTER OF RIGHTSCanada has been profoundly changed since our Constitution, including the Charter of Rights, came to be patriated in 1982. This took place without any national referendum or public support.The 1982 Patriation caused the transfer of power from the elected federal Parliament and provincial Legislatures which are accountable to the public, to nonelected, unaccountable judges sitting on the Supreme Court of Canada. The judiciary now make, without public input or accountability, fundamental decisions affecting our daily lives.From Democracy to Judicial Dictatorship in Canada reveals how this dramatic change came about. Based on documentary evidence, the authors disclose how Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau: An ardent socialist, became a member of the Liberal Party of Canada solely to use it as a platform to change Canada's Constitution according to his directions.Had no respect for the elected Members of Parliament, and preferred that elitist appointed judges make fundamental decisions, using the Charter as their tool to reshape Canadian values and society. Engaged in obnoxious behaviour deliberately misleading the public about the purpose and effect of his proposed Charter of Rights.Canadian judges have used the Charter to expand their role and influence, contrary to the clear intent of the drafters of the Charter. Time and again, judges have thrown aside judicial restraint, abandoned legal merit and precedent as the basis of their decisions, and instead have applied their own political ideology in reaching their decisions. They have now become the most powerful individuals in Canadian history.These startling events are examined through a critique of a number of Supreme Court of Canada and lower court cases, and the apparent mentality of the judges who believe that they are personally qualified to decide "what is best for Canadians."This book provides the reader with a three part assessment of our current state of constitutional crisis. The first part is a survey of the politics that went into the 1982 patriation of Canada's Constitution. The second, the loss of Parliamentary sovereignty and the rise of judicial activism. In the third part, the authors make the case that reform is not only necessary but possible. Both the courts and Parliament must actively seek to re-balance their respective roles based on principles of responsible government and electoral accountability, to ensure that Canada, once again, becomes strong and free, rooted in the consent of the governed.

From Democracy to Judicial Dictatorship in Canada

From Democracy to Judicial Dictatorship in Canada PDF Author: Patrick Redmond
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781795581646
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Get Book Here

Book Description
FROM DEMOCRACY TOJUDICIAL DICTATORSHIP IN CANADA:THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE CHARTER OF RIGHTSCanada has been profoundly changed since our Constitution, including the Charter of Rights, came to be patriated in 1982. This took place without any national referendum or public support.The 1982 Patriation caused the transfer of power from the elected federal Parliament and provincial Legislatures which are accountable to the public, to nonelected, unaccountable judges sitting on the Supreme Court of Canada. The judiciary now make, without public input or accountability, fundamental decisions affecting our daily lives.From Democracy to Judicial Dictatorship in Canada reveals how this dramatic change came about. Based on documentary evidence, the authors disclose how Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau: An ardent socialist, became a member of the Liberal Party of Canada solely to use it as a platform to change Canada's Constitution according to his directions.Had no respect for the elected Members of Parliament, and preferred that elitist appointed judges make fundamental decisions, using the Charter as their tool to reshape Canadian values and society. Engaged in obnoxious behaviour deliberately misleading the public about the purpose and effect of his proposed Charter of Rights.Canadian judges have used the Charter to expand their role and influence, contrary to the clear intent of the drafters of the Charter. Time and again, judges have thrown aside judicial restraint, abandoned legal merit and precedent as the basis of their decisions, and instead have applied their own political ideology in reaching their decisions. They have now become the most powerful individuals in Canadian history.These startling events are examined through a critique of a number of Supreme Court of Canada and lower court cases, and the apparent mentality of the judges who believe that they are personally qualified to decide "what is best for Canadians."This book provides the reader with a three part assessment of our current state of constitutional crisis. The first part is a survey of the politics that went into the 1982 patriation of Canada's Constitution. The second, the loss of Parliamentary sovereignty and the rise of judicial activism. In the third part, the authors make the case that reform is not only necessary but possible. Both the courts and Parliament must actively seek to re-balance their respective roles based on principles of responsible government and electoral accountability, to ensure that Canada, once again, becomes strong and free, rooted in the consent of the governed.

The Specter of Dictatorship

The Specter of Dictatorship PDF Author: David M. Driesen
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 1503628620
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
Reveals how the U.S. Supreme Court's presidentialism threatens our democracy and what to do about it. Donald Trump's presidency made many Americans wonder whether our system of checks and balances would prove robust enough to withstand an onslaught from a despotic chief executive. In The Specter of Dictatorship, David Driesen analyzes the chief executive's role in the democratic decline of Hungary, Poland, and Turkey and argues that an insufficiently constrained presidency is one of the most important systemic threats to democracy. Driesen urges the U.S. to learn from the mistakes of these failing democracies. Their experiences suggest, Driesen shows, that the Court must eschew its reliance on and expansion of the "unitary executive theory" recently endorsed by the Court and apply a less deferential approach to presidential authority, invoked to protect national security and combat emergencies, than it has in recent years. Ultimately, Driesen argues that concern about loss of democracy should play a major role in the Court's jurisprudence, because loss of democracy can prove irreversible. As autocracy spreads throughout the world, maintaining our democracy has become an urgent matter.

Truth Be Told

Truth Be Told PDF Author: Beverley McLachlin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982104988
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE WRITERS’ TRUST SHAUGHNESSY COHEN PRIZE WINNER OF THE OTTAWA BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION ​Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Beverley McLachlin offers an intimate and revealing look at her life, from her childhood in the Alberta foothills to her career on the Supreme Court, where she helped to shape the social and moral fabric of the country. As a young girl, Beverley McLachlin’s world was often full of wonder—at the expansive prairie vistas around her, at the stories she discovered in the books at her local library, and at the diverse people who passed through her parents’ door. While her family was poor, their lives were rich in the ways that mattered most. Even at a young age, she had an innate sense of justice, which was reinforced by the lessons her parents taught her: Everyone deserves dignity. All people are equal. Those who work hard reap the rewards. Willful, spirited, and unusually intelligent, she discovered in Pincher Creek an extraordinary tapestry of people and perspectives that informed her worldview going forward. Still, life in the rural Prairies was lonely, and gaining access to education—especially for girls—wasn’t always easy. As a young woman, McLachlin moved to Edmonton to pursue a degree in philosophy. There, she discovered her passion lay not in academia, but in the real world, solving problems directly related to the lives of the people around her. And in the law, she found the tools to do exactly that. She soon realized, though, that the world was not always willing to accept her. In her early years as an articling student and lawyer, she encountered sexism, exclusion, and old boys’ clubs at every turn. And outside the courtroom, personal loss and tragedies struck close to home. Nonetheless, McLachlin was determined to prove her worth, and her love of the law and the pursuit of justice pulled her through the darkest moments. McLachlin’s meteoric rise through the courts soon found her serving on the highest court in the country, becoming the first woman to be named Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. She rapidly distinguished herself as a judge of renown, one who was never afraid to take on morally complex or charged debates. Over the next eighteen years, McLachlin presided over the most prominent cases in the country—involving Charter challenges, same-sex marriage, and euthanasia. One judgment at a time, she laid down a legal legacy that proved that fairness and justice were not luxuries of the powerful but rather obligations owed to each and every one of us. With warmth, honesty, and deep wisdom, McLachlin invites us into her legal and personal life—into the hopes and doubts, the triumphs and losses on and off the bench. Through it all, her constant faith in justice remained her true north. In an age of division and uncertainty, McLachlin’s memoir is a reminder that justice and the rule of law remain our best hope for a progressive and bright future.

Democratizing the Constitution

Democratizing the Constitution PDF Author: Peter Aucoin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781552394632
Category : Constitutional law
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
This timely book examines recent history and ongoing controversies as it makes the case for restoring power to where it belongs - with the people's elected representatives in Parliament.

Militant Democracy

Militant Democracy PDF Author: András Sajó
Publisher: Eleven International Publishing
ISBN: 9077596046
Category : Civil rights
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
This book is a collection of contributions by leading scholars on theoretical and contemporary problems of militant democracy. The term 'militant democracy' was first coined in 1937. In a militant democracy preventive measures are aimed, at least in practice, at restricting people who would openly contest and challenge democratic institutions and fundamental preconditions of democracy like secularism - even though such persons act within the existing limits of, and rely on the rights offered by, democracy. In the shadow of the current wars on terrorism, which can also involve rights restrictions, the overlapping though distinct problem of militant democracy seems to be lost, notwithstanding its importance for emerging and established democracies. This volume will be of particular significance outside the German-speaking world, since the bulk of the relevant literature on militant democracy is in the German language. The book is of interest to academics in the field of law, political studies and constitutionalism.

Fixing Canadian Democracy

Fixing Canadian Democracy PDF Author: Fraser Institute (Vancouver, B.C.)
Publisher: The Fraser Institute
ISBN: 088975201X
Category : Canada
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description


The Dual State

The Dual State PDF Author: Ernst Fraenkel
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019102533X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
The Dual State, first published in 1941, remains one of the most erudite books on the logic of dictatorship. It was the first comprehensive analysis of the rise and nature of National Socialism and the only such analysis written from within Hitler's Germany. Ernst Fraenkel's courageous ethnography of law was widely acclaimed upon publication, and it has influenced considerably postwar debates about the nature of the Third Reich. But The Dual State also has relevance for the study of dictatorship in the twenty-first century. Fraenkel's innovative concept of the dual state, with its two halvesthe normative state (which generally respects its own laws and regulations) and the prerogative state (which violates them wantonly) illuminates powerfully the complicated relationship between law and order in many countries around the world. It speaks directly to the idea of an authoritarian rule of law. This republication of Fraenkel's classic makes it once again available to scholars and students in law, the social sciences, and the humanities. It includes Fraenkel's 1974 preface to and two appendices from the first German editionnever before published in English. An extensive introduction by Jens Meierhenrich places Fraenkel's ethnography of law in historical and theoretical context.

Constitutional Dialogue

Constitutional Dialogue PDF Author: Geoffrey Sigalet
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108417582
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 487

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Book Description
Identifies how and why 'dialogue' can describe and evaluate institutional interactions over constitutional questions concerning democracy and rights.

Judges beyond Politics in Democracy and Dictatorship

Judges beyond Politics in Democracy and Dictatorship PDF Author: Lisa Hilbink
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 113946681X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 13

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Book Description
Why did formerly independent Chilean judges, trained under and appointed by democratic governments, facilitate and condone the illiberal, antidemocratic, and anti-legal policies of the Pinochet regime? Challenging the assumption that adjudication in non-democratic settings is fundamentally different and less puzzling than it is in democratic regimes, this book offers a longitudinal analysis of judicial behavior, demonstrating striking continuity in judicial performance across regimes in Chile. The work explores the relevance of judges' personal policy preferences, social class, and legal philosophy, but argues that institutional factors best explain the persistent failure of judges to take stands in defense of rights and rule of law principles. Specifically, the institutional structure and ideology of the Chilean judiciary, grounded in the ideal of judicial apoliticism, furnished judges with professional understandings and incentives that left them unequipped and disinclined to take stands in defense of liberal democratic principles, before, during, and after the authoritarian interlude.

A Tragedy of Democracy

A Tragedy of Democracy PDF Author: Greg Robinson
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231520123
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
The confinement of some 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, often called the Japanese American internment, has been described as the worst official civil rights violation of modern U. S. history. Greg Robinson not only offers a bold new understanding of these events but also studies them within a larger time frame and from a transnational perspective. Drawing on newly discovered material, Robinson provides a backstory of confinement that reveals for the first time the extent of the American government's surveillance of Japanese communities in the years leading up to war and the construction of what officials termed "concentration camps" for enemy aliens. He also considers the aftermath of confinement, including the place of Japanese Americans in postwar civil rights struggles, the long movement by former camp inmates for redress, and the continuing role of the camps as touchstones for nationwide commemoration and debate. Most remarkably, A Tragedy of Democracy is the first book to analyze official policy toward West Coast Japanese Americans within a North American context. Robinson studies confinement on the mainland alongside events in wartime Hawaii, where fears of Japanese Americans justified Army dictatorship, suspension of the Constitution, and the imposition of military tribunals. He similarly reads the treatment of Japanese Americans against Canada's confinement of 22,000 citizens and residents of Japanese ancestry from British Columbia. A Tragedy of Democracy recounts the expulsion of almost 5,000 Japanese from Mexico's Pacific Coast and the poignant story of the Japanese Latin Americans who were kidnapped from their homes and interned in the United States. Approaching Japanese confinement as a continental and international phenomenon, Robinson offers a truly kaleidoscopic understanding of its genesis and outcomes. The confinement of some 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, often called the Japanese American internment, has been described as the worst official civil rights violation of modern U. S. history. Greg Robinson not only offers a bold new understanding of these events but also studies them within a larger time frame and from a transnational perspective. Drawing on newly discovered material, Robinson provides a backstory of confinement that reveals for the first time the extent of the American government's surveillance of Japanese communities in the years leading up to war and the construction of what officials termed "concentration camps" for enemy aliens. He also considers the aftermath of confinement, including the place of Japanese Americans in postwar civil rights struggles, the long movement by former camp inmates for redress, and the continuing role of the camps as touchstones for nationwide commemoration and debate. Most remarkably, A Tragedy of Democracy is the first book to analyze official policy toward West Coast Japanese Americans within a North American context. Robinson studies confinement on the mainland alongside events in wartime Hawaii, where fears of Japanese Americans justified Army dictatorship, suspension of the Constitution, and the imposition of military tribunals. He similarly reads the treatment of Japanese Americans against Canada's confinement of 22,000 citizens and residents of Japanese ancestry from British Columbia. A Tragedy of Democracy recounts the expulsion of almost 5,000 Japanese from Mexico's Pacific Coast and the poignant story of the Japanese Latin Americans who were kidnapped from their homes and interned in the United States. Approaching Japanese confinement as a continental and international phenomenon, Robinson offers a truly kaleidoscopic understanding of its genesis and outcomes.