Unit 2 - The Charter Flashcards
What are fundamental freedoms and what section are they?
S.2 - rights so basic and essential to the quality of life that they can only be infringed upon by the government in the most dire of circumstances, or when their exercise threatens the fundamental freedoms of others.
What are some subcategories of fundamental freedoms?
• Freedom of conscience and religion (s. 2a)
• Freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression (s. 2b)
• Freedom of peaceful assembly (s. 2c)
• Freedom of association (s. 2d)
What are democratic rights and what section are they?
Ss. 3-5 - rights and provisions concerning the Canadian political process and the exercise of democracy for Canadian citizens.
What are the subcategories under democratic rights?
• The right of citizens to vote and run for government (s. 3)
• The guarantee that no legislative body or H.O.C. will be in power for more than five years without a democratic election, except in very limited circumstances (s. 4)
• The guarantee that Parliament and every other legislature will be meeting for a set period out of every 12 months (s. 5)
What are mobility rights and what section are they under?
S. 6 - the freedom of Canadian citizens to be, and move within, Canada.
What are legal rights and what section are they under?
Ss. 7-14 - ways in which persons in Canada are protected in encounters with the justice system.
What are the subcategories of the legal rights section?
• to life, liberty and security of the person, and to not be deprived of these except under special circumstances (s. 7)
• to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure (s. 8)
• to not be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned (s. 9)
• to retain and instruct a lawyer to represent them in Justice proceedings (s. 10)
• to have a trial within a reasonable time and period (s. 11b)
• to be innocent until proven guilty (s. 11d)
• to not be subjected to any cruel or unusual treatment or punishment (s. 12)
What are equality rights and what section are they?
S. 15 - right not to be discriminated against by the government or government agents based on a set of grounds that relate to being members of certain communities and social identity groups.
What are official languages and what section are they?
Ss. 16-22 - guarantee use of both English and French in federal government institutions and set out special provisions for use of both languages in New Brunswick
What are minority language education rights and what section are they?
S. 23 - right for speakers of either official language to have their children receive primary and secondary instruction in that language, even if they are a linguistic minority in their community. Wherever an official linguistic minority community comprises a large enough proportion of students, education is paid for by public funds.
What is enforcement of guaranteed rights and freedoms and what sections are they?
Ss. 24 and 52 - (24) allows parties to bring forward a claim to the court when they feel their rights are being violated and (52) states that the Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of the land, meaning that “any law that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution is, to the extent of the inconsistency, of no force or effect
What does the charter apply to?
Governmental actors - this includes entities controlled by the government and those that exercise government functions (police)
Governmental acts - includes entities implementing government programs and those exercising statutory powers (law societies, provincial human rights commissions)
Legislation - the Charter applies to all laws and regulations including federal and provincial statues, municipal bylaws and other delegated legislation that is authorized by the law (rules of professional conduct)
What is the nonwithstanding clause and what section is it?
S. 33 - allows parliament of provincial legislatures to override some charter-protected rights. It can only be used to override rights found in s. 2 and s. 7-15. It must be renewed at least once every 5 years.
What is section 1 of the charter
Section 1 of the Charter says that Charter rights can be limited by law so long as those limits can be shown to be reasonable in a free and democratic society.
