Judicial Process in the Supreme Court of Canada

Debates about the proper role of judges in Canada have taken on a new, exciting dimension because of the 1982 amendments to the Canadian Constitution.The "quasi-entrenchment" ' of certain rights in the Constitution will cast Canadian courts in a new and unfamiliar role.While the mere mention of the role of courts arouses legal academics, it has traditionally sent practitioners scurrying for cover.This should no longer be true, as judicial strategies will be as important as the words of the Canadian Charter ofRights itself.The fate of the Charter of Rights rests squarely with the judges who will be called upon to interpret it.Judicial attitudes and methodologies are crucial to the effective implementation of any bill of rights. 2 There has been much discussion about the exact wording of the Charter of Rights and the strengths and weaknesses of its legislative drafting but the document itself is only a beginning.Canada's judiciary and in particular, the Supreme Court of Canada will either breathe life into the Charter of Rights, or reduce it to a hollow promise of things that might have been. I. THE TRADITIONAL ROLE OF COURTS IN CANADAIt is timely to reconsider the role of judges in Canada.This paper focuses upon the Supreme Court of Canada, and assesses its past and present performance in order to make predictions about its future role as interpreter of the Charter of Rights.The focus is justified by the importance of the Supreme Court as Canada's final appellate court.There is no intent to diminish the im

Charter · Political science · Supreme court · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies

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