Rights Freedoms And The Courts

Since the turn of the twenty-first century, Canadian unions have scored a number of important Supreme Court victories, securing constitutional rights to picket, bargain collectively, and strike. Unions in Court documents the evolution of the Canadian labour movement’s engagement with the Charter, demonstrating how and why labour’s long-standing distrust of the legal system has given way to a controversial, Charter-based legal strategy. This book’s in-depth examination of constitutional labour rights will have critical implications for labour movements as well as activists in other fields.

Canadas Charter of Rights and Freedoms has transformed Canadian life since it was adopted as part of the Canadian constitution in 1982. The Charter requires judges to make decisions on a wide range of issues that affect all Canadians. In doing so, the courts play a major role in citizens lives. Because of the Charter: - The law against prostitution was struck down. - The Harper government"s treatment of child soldier Omar Khadr was found to violate his rights. - Vancouvers Insite safe injection site was kept open, overriding a federal government decision requiring it to shut down. Ian Greene is a political scientist, and his focus in this book is to highlight the many significant ways the Charter shapes Canadian life. After providing background on the creation and implementation of the Charter, he describes its impact on a wide range of issues aboriginal affairs, voting rights, freedom of religion, the right to strike, and language rights, among others. Greene describes key decisions in these areas and comments on the often-conflicting views of the judges deciding them. Even though the Charter is a legal document, debated by lawyers and decided by judges, Greene approaches his subject with an eye on the political impact the Charter has on governments and ordinary citizens. Public discussion of the Charter is often framed around the question of who should make these important decisions elected politicians or unelected judges. This book provides a clear understanding of how the Charter works and how ordinary citizens have succeeded or failed to win change from the courts. It offers information that people on every side of public discussion can use regarding the role of the Charter in Canadian life.

The adoption of the Canadian Constitution Act in 1982, with its embedded Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ushered in an era of unprecedented judicial influence on Canada's public policy. The Courts, the Charter, and the Schools examines how the Constitution Act has affected educational policy during the first twenty-five years of the Charter by analyzing landmark rulings handed down from appellate courts and the Supreme Court. The contributors consider the influence that Charter cases have had on educational policies and practices by discussing cases involving fundamental freedoms, legal rights, equality rights, and minority language rights. Demonstrating why and how the Charter was invoked, interpreted, and applied in each of these cases, this volume also highlights the resulting consequences for Canada's public schools. An illuminating collection of essays by prominent legal scholars and educational commentators, The Courts, the Charter, and the Schools is a significant contribution to the study of educational law and policy in Canada.

Moon argues that recognition of the social dynamic of communication is critical to understanding the potential value and harm of language and to addressing questions about the scope and limits on one's rights to freedom of expression.

No other Canadian book provides such an accessible yet thorough and objective account of the "Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms." The text has been thoroughly updated to reflect "Charter" jurisprudence since publication of the second edition in 2002. It covers the history of the "Charter," legitimacy of judicial review, limitation of "Charter" rights, "Charter" litigation, language rights, equality rights, and "Charter" rights of the criminally accused.

"In Theory of Class Actions, Craig Jones provides a complete and comprehensive defence of the use of the class action for the resolution of mass tort claims. He explodes several popular myths regarding class actions including the notions that they infringe on litigative autonomy, they "blackmail" defendants, they pay too much to lawyers, and they are only effective for numerous, low-value claims.

First published in 1989, this volume reflects on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of the 1982 Canadian Constitution, considering its implications for the future development of the nation. The book offers a concise analysis of what the Charter says and what the courts had, to the time of publication, taken it to mean. Beginning with a discussion of the Charter's origins, Greene then dissects the various clauses of the document before turning to Charter decisions already rendered by the Supreme Court. The Charter of Rights is a thoughtful primer of the Charter and its impact on the collective life of Canadians.