Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:13:08.345Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bills of Rights as process: the Canadian experience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2008

Anne Smith
Anne Smith*
Affiliation:
Transitional Justice Institute, University of Ulster, Magee Campus, Derry
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article seeks to address a specific aspect of Bills of Rights that tends to be neglected in the literature. That is, the process of how Bills of Rights are drafted. In particular it focuses on the drafting of a particular right-equality with a view to identifying if there is a link between: (a) the manner of how an equality provision is drafted and securing legitimacy of the final product; (b) whether a participative process can influence the formulation and articulation of an equality provision; and finally (c) if the ‘people’ have spoken through this document, does this encourage the judges to take a less restrictive approach in interpreting the equality provision? This task is undertaken by drawing upon the Canadian experience, which then will be used to draw out lessons for those jurisdictions where the process of drafting an equality provision in a Bill of Rights is under way. The article is supported in its conclusions by a series of semi-structured interviews with key players involved in the drafting and interpretation of the equality provision in the Canadian Charter.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , December 2007 , pp. 343 - 372
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Abram, Morris (1986) ‘Affirmative Action: Fair Shakers and Social Engineers’, Harvard Law Review 99: 1312–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ackerman, Bruce (1997) ‘The Rise of World Constitutionalism’, Virginia Law Review 83: 771–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allan, James (2002) ‘Rights, Paternalism, Constitutionalism and Judges’ in Huscroft, Grant and Rishworth, Paul (eds) Litigating Rights. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 29–46.Google Scholar
Barry, Brian (2001) Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Bell, Christine (2006) ‘Peace Agreements: Their Nature and Legal Status’, American Journal of International Law 100: 373–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binnie, Justice I. (2002) ‘Equality Rights in Canada: Judicial Usurpation or Missed Opportunities’ in Huscroft, Grant and Rishworth, Paul (eds) Litigating Rights. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 101–135.Google Scholar
Buckley, Melina, (2006) ‘Meiorin: Exploring the Governmental Responsibility to Promote Equality under Section 15 of the Charter’ in Faraday, Fay, Denike, Margaret and Stephenson, M Kate (eds), Making Equality Rights Real: Securing Substantive Equality under the Charter. Toronto: Irwin Law, 179–201.Google Scholar
Butler, Judith (1998) ‘Merely cultural’, New Left Review 227: 33–44.Google Scholar
Cairns, Alan (1991) ‘Constitutional Change and the Three Equalities’ in Watts, Ronald and Brown, Douglas (eds), Options for a New Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 77–100.Google Scholar
Campbell, Colm, Harvey, Colin and Ni aoláin, Fionnuala (2003) ‘The Frontiers of Legal Analysis: Reframing the Transition in Northern Ireland’, Modern Law Review 66: 317–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, Simone and Kymlicka, Will (eds) (2002) Alternative Conceptions of Civil Society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, Jean (1989) ‘Deliberative Democracy and Deliberate Legitimacy’ in Hamlin, Alan and Petit, Philip (eds) The Good Polity. Oxford: Blackwell, 00–00.Google Scholar
Cohen, Jean and Arato, Andrew (1992) Civil Society and Political Theory. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Dahl, Robert (1989) Democracy and Its Critics. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Doherty, Brian (2000) Direct Action in British Environmentalism. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Doyle, John and Wells, Belinda (1999) ‘How Far Can the Common Law Go Protecting Human Rights’ in Alston, Philip (ed.) Promoting Human Rights Through Bills of Rights: Comparative Perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 17–74.Google Scholar
Dworkin, Ronald (2000) Sovereign Virtue: The Theory and Practice of Equality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Ebrahim, Hassen (1998) The Soul of a Nation: Constitution-making in South Africa. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Finley, Lucinda (1986) ‘Transcending Equality Theory: A Way Out of the Maternity and the Workplace Debate’, Columbia Law Review 86: 111–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flanz, Gisbert (2000) (ed.) Constitutions of the Countries of the World: A Series of Updated Texts, Constitutional Chronologies and Annotated Bibliographies. Chicago, IL: Kazi Publications.Google Scholar
Flax, Jane (1992) ‘Beyond Equality: Gender, Justice and Difference’ in Bock, Gisela and James, Susan (eds) Beyond Equality and Difference: Citizenship, Feminist Politics and Female Subjectivity. London: Routledge, 193–210.Google Scholar
Fogarty, Kenneth (1987) Equality Rights and their Limitations in the Charter. Toronto: Carswell Company Limited.Google Scholar
Fossum, John (2002) ‘Charters and Constitution-making: Comparing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.’ ARENA Working Papers WP 02/08, available online at http://www.arena.uio.no/publications/wp02_8.htmGoogle Scholar
Fraser, Nancy (1975) Justice Interruptus: Critical Reflections on the ‘Post-socialist’ Condition. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fraser, Nancy (2000) ‘Rethinking Recognition: Overcoming Displacement and Rectification in Cultural Politics’, New Left Review 2/3: 107–120.Google Scholar
Fredman, Sandra (2001a) ‘Combating Racism with Human Rights: The Right to Equality’ in Fredman, Sandra (ed.) Discrimination and Human Rights – The Case of Racism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 8–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fredman, Sandra (2001b) ‘Equality: A New Generation’, Industrial Law Journal 30: 145–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fredman, Sandra (2002) Discrimination Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gloppen, Siri (1997) South Africa: the Battle over the Constitution. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Habermas, Jurgen (1996) Between Facts and Norms. Cambridge: Polity Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, Colin (2001) ‘The Politics of Rights and Deliberative Democracy: The Process of Drafting a Northern Irish Bill of Rights’, European Human Rights Law Review 1: 48–70.Google Scholar
Hatchard, John, Ndulo, Muna and Slinn, Peter (2004) Comparative Constitutionalism and Good Governance in the Commonwealth: An Eastern and South African Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendriks, Carolyn, (2006) ‘Integrated Deliberation: Reconciling Civil Society’s Dual Role in Deliberative Democracy’, Political Studies 54: 486–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirschl, Ran (2004) Towards Juristocracy: The Origins and Consequences of the New Constitutionalism. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hogg, Peter (1982) ‘A Comparison of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms with the Canadian Bill of Rights’ in Tarnopolsky, William and Beaudoin, Gerald (eds) The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Toronto: Carswell Company Limited, 1–23.Google Scholar
Holmes, Stephen (1993) ‘Gag Rules or the Politics of Omission’ in Elster, Jon and Slagstad, Rune (eds) Constitutionalism and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 19–58.Google Scholar
Holmes, Stephen (1995) Passions and Constraint: On the Theory of Liberal Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Honneth, Axel (1995) The Struggle for Recognition. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Kane, John (1997) ‘From Ethnic Exclusion to Ethnic Diversity: The Australian Path to Multiculturalism’ in Shapiro, Ian and Kymlicka, Will (eds) Ethnicity and Group Rights. New York: New York University Press, 540–71.Google Scholar
Kymlicka, Will (1995) Multicultural Citizenship. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Lacey, Nicola (1992) ‘From Individual to Group’ in Hepple, Bob and Szyszczak, Erika (eds) Discrimination: The Limits of the Law. London: Mansell, 99–124.Google Scholar
Lepofsky, David (1998) ‘The Charter’s Guarantee of Equality to People with Disabilities – How Well is it Working?’, Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice 16: 155–214.Google Scholar
L’heureux-dubé, the Hon. Claire (1999) ‘Conversations on Equality’, Manitoba Law Journal 26: 273–99.Google Scholar
Lister, Ruth (1997) Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Livingstone, Stephen (2003) ‘Equality and Human Rights’, paper presented at a Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Seminar, Belfast, 24 March 2003.Google Scholar
Mccrudden, Christopher (2001) ‘Not The Way Forward: Some Comments on the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s Consultation Document On a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland’, Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 52: 372–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mccrudden, Christopher (2003) ‘Theorising European Equality Law’ in Costello, Cathryn and Barry, Eilis (eds) Equality in Diversity. Dungannon: Ashfield Publications, 1–38.Google Scholar
Mccrudden, Christopher, (2007) ‘Consociationalism, Equality and Minorities in the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights Debate: The Role of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities’ in Morison, John, McEvoy, Kieran and Anthony, Gordon (eds) Judges, Transition and Human Rights Cultures. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 315–54.Google Scholar
Mcevoy, Kieran and Rebouche, Rachel (2007) ‘Mobilizing the Professions: Lawyers, Politics, and the Collective Legal Conscience’, in Morison, John, McEvoy, Kieran and Anthony, Gordon (eds), Judges, Transition and Human Rights Cultures. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 000–000.Google Scholar
Mclachlin, Chief Justice Beverly (2006) ‘The Canadian Experience of a Bill of Rights’ in Human Rights and Peace-Building in Northern Ireland: An International Anthology. Belfast: Committee on the Administration of Justice, 1–11.Google Scholar
Murray, Rachel (2001) ‘The Importance of a Bill of Rights in Northern Ireland as a Process: Comparative Reflections from South Africa’, Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 52: 385–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’cinneide, Colm (2006) ‘What a Bill of Rights Can and Cannot Achieve’, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Review, summer (2): 5.Google Scholar
Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (2001) ‘Open Channels: Public Dialogue in Science and Technology’, Report No. 153, March 2001, available at http://www.parliament.uk/post/pr153.pdfGoogle Scholar
Penner, Ronald (1996) ‘The Canadian Experience with the Charter of Rights: Are there Lessons for the United Kingdom?’, Public Law, 104–125.Google Scholar
Perry, Michael (2003) ‘Protecting Human Rights in a Democracy: What Role for the Courts?’, Wake Forest Law Review 38: 635–96.Google Scholar
Peters, Yvonne (2004) ‘Twenty Years of Litigating for Disability Equality Rights: Has it Made a Difference? An Assement by the Council of Canadians with Disabilities’, 26 January 2004, available at http://www.ccdonline.ca/publications/20yrs/20yrs.htm#9Google Scholar
Phillips, Anne (2002) ‘Equality, Pluralism, Universality: Current Concerns in Normative Theory’, British Journal of Politics and International Relations 2: 237–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, Bruce (2005) ‘Twenty Years of Equality Rights: Reclaiming Expectations’, available at http://www.20years.ca/Porter-revised.html#_ftn108Google Scholar
Powell, John (1996–1997) ‘The Multiple Self: Exploring Between and Beyond Modernity and Postmodernity’, Minnesota Law Review 81: 1481–520.Google Scholar
Rawls, John (1971) A Theory of Justice. Oxford, Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, Mary (2006) ‘Making Right Relationships an Everyday Practice’, Human Rights and Peace-Building in Northern Ireland: An International Anthology. Belfast: Committee on the Administration of Justice, 131–43.Google Scholar
Russell, Peter (1987) ‘The Effect of the Charter of Rights in the Policy-making Role of the Canadian Courts’ in Morton, Frederick L. (ed.) Law, Politics and the Judicial Process in Canada. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 00–00.Google Scholar
Russell, Peter (1998) ‘Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms: A Political Report’, Public Law, 385–401.Google Scholar
Ryder, Bruce (2004) ‘Formal and Substantive Equality in Section 15 Jurisprudence’, paper presented at the Annual Seminar of Judges of the Federal Court, Montebello, 9 September 2004.Google Scholar
Sachs, Albie (1991) Protecting Human Rights In A New South Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sarkin, Jeremy (1999) ‘The Drafting of South Africa’s Final Constitution from a Human Rights Perspective’, American Journal of Comparative Law 47: 67–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheuerman, William (1997) ‘Constitutionalism and Difference’, University of Toronto Law Journal 47: 263–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, Charles (1992) ‘The Politics of Recognition’ in Gutmann, Amy (ed.) Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 25–73.Google Scholar
Teitel, Ruth (2002–2003) ‘Theoretical and International Frameworks: Transitional Justice in a New Era’, Fordham International Law Journal 26: 893–906.Google Scholar
Tully, James (1995) Strange Multiplicity. Constitutionalism in an Age of Diversity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tushnet, Mark (1995–1996) ‘Policy Distortion and Democratic Debilitation: Comparative Illumination of the Countermajoritarian Difficulty’, Michigan Law Review 94: 245–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vipond, R (1999) ‘Constitutionalism as a Form of Conflict Resolution’ in Hanafin, Patrick and Williams, Melissa (eds) Identity, Rights and Constitutional Transformation. Aldershot: Ashgate, 172–85.Google Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy (1993) ‘A Right-Based Critique of Constitutional Rights’, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 13: 18–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy (1999) Democracy and Disagreement. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy (2002) ‘Taking Group Rights Carefully’ in Huscroft, Grant and Rishworth, Paul (eds) Litigating Rights. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 203–220.Google Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy (2006) ‘The Core of the Case Against Judicial Review’, Yale Law Journal 115: 1346–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiler, Paul (1984–1985) ‘Rights and Judges in a Democracy: A New Canadian Version’, University of Michigan Law Reform 18: 51–92.Google Scholar
Weinrib, Lorraine (1992) ‘Of Diligence and Dice: Reconstituting Canada’s Constitution’, University of Toronto Law Journal 42: 207–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, George (2003) ‘Constructing a Community-Based Bill of Rights’ in Campbell, Tom, Goldworthy, Jeffrey and Stone, Adrienne (eds) Protecting Human Rights: Instruments and Institutions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 247–62.Google Scholar
Young, Iris (1990) Justice and the Politics of Difference Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Young, Iris (1997) ‘Unruly Categories: A Critique of Nancy Fraser’s Dual Systems Theory’, New Left Review 222: 147–60.Google Scholar
Zappone, Katherine (2001) ‘Charting the Equality Agenda: A Coherent Framework for Equality Strategies in Ireland, North and South’, Dublin: Equality Authority and Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, available at http://www.equalityni.org/archive/pdf/kzreport.pdfGoogle Scholar

Interviews

Atcheson, Beth, then a young lawyer and women’s rights advocate and now chair of the board of the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) (1985), available at http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/s15/c_history.htmlGoogle Scholar
Atcheson, Beth, former Chair of LEAF (Toronto, August 2004)Google Scholar
Boyer, Patrick, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee Equality Rights (1985), available at http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/s15/e_boyer.htmlGoogle Scholar
Joyal, Senator Serge, available at http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/s15/e_joyal.html [accessed 18 June 2006]Google Scholar
L’Heureux-Dubé, Claire (Quebec City, September 2004)Google Scholar
Sampson, Fiona, Director, LEAF (Toronto, August 2004)Google Scholar

Other

A letter addressed to Mr Allan Simpson, National Chairman of COPOH, written on behalf of Jean Chrétien by Jacques A. Demers, Special Adviser, Office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, 20 October 1980, Government of Manitoba Archives.Google Scholar
An open letter to the Commons and the Senate issued by Allan Simpson, National Chairperson on behalf of the Coalition of Provincial Organisations of the Handicapped, 28 October 1980.Google Scholar
House of Commons Debates, 20 November 1981.Google Scholar
Ontario Legislative Assembly Debates, 11 December 1981.Google Scholar
Special Joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Commons on the Constitution, ‘Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence 1980–1981’.Google Scholar
Statement by the Honourable Jean Chrétien, Minister of Justice, to the Special Joint Committee on the Constitution, 12 January 1981.Google Scholar