Constitutional Foundations (Week 7) Flashcards
What were the sections of the CCC challenged in the Bedford case?
s. 210 - keeping a common bawdy house
s. 212 - living off the avails of prostitution
s. 213 - communicating in public for the purpose of prostitution
What section of the Charter did the Bedford case challenge?
s.7 - life liberty and security of the person in accordance with fundamental principles of justice
+ is this limit justifiable
What did the SCC have to say about the Bedford challenge?
What was the remedy?
Found no justification for provisions (infringements) as they only made the work more dangerous/prevented people from security of the person
Remedy: declared sections unconstitutional
What was the government response to the Bedford case?
Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Acts (2014)
- criminalizes the purchase of sexual services, regardless of venue
- Stiffens penalties
- Avails, changed to note that prosecution only happens if exploitation is present
- Communication, limited to areas outside schools, daycare, playgrounds
What are some critiques of the changes made by the gov in response to the Bedford case?
- Forces people back underground to protect their clients
- Increased surveillance of sex workers
- Further divisions between police and sex workers, less protection through legal system
- Ongoing sigma and discrimination
Define constitution?
formalized framework of rep and identity
What are the three historical sources of Canadian law?
Common law - British
Civil Law - French
Indigenous law - largely abandoned in pursuit of assimilation
Who states the following: “Country cannot be based on a living lie”
What does this mean?
Mahoney
Rule of law is the roots of confederation but its application to indigenous peoples is dysfunctional, mired in racism and inequality
Undermines trust and creates alienation
What was the royal proclamation of 1763?
What was the Indian act of 1876?
When were treaty rights recognized?
- Acknowledged indigenous rights to land held in trust
- Assimilation, segregation, model for apartheid states
- Introduction of the constitution in 1982
What is civil law?
When was it formally recognized?
French, derived from the nepoleonic code - in codes we trust
Law is a result of abstract ideas and principles
Quebec Act 1774 - continuation of civil law in QC today (not in criminal matters), very similar to common law
What is common law?
What is stare decisis?
Legal tradition, based on local solutions not principles (Judge made law)
Like cases be decided alike
SD = continuity, uniformity and predictability, body of common law emerged
What are the three components of the Canadian constitution?
- British foundations
- Federalism
- Charter of rights and freedoms
When was the BNA act established?
What are the two principles?
1867
- Parliamentary supremacy
- Rule of law
- law must be applied equally, trans-personalized, non-arbitrary
- no one is above the law + impartial administration
- laws are generated by constitutional authority
What was the main issue and the resolution of Roncarelli v. Duplessis?
R's liq licence undue fully removed because a premiere didn't like that he was bailing our J wits SCC split (6-3): action was ultra vires, rule of law was not respected
What is federalism?
Which sections of the BNA allowed this?
Division of state powers (fed and prov)
s. 91 and 92
