Dialogue between courts and legislatures can occur where legislatures reverse, modify or avoid judicial decisions. With two exceptions, however, legislatures have only reversed the Supreme Court on three occasions. Defiant legislative responses enacted without the notwithstanding clause undermine the Charter and the courts, and are an inappropriate means of expressing institutional disagreement. However, based on a model of coordinate constitutionalism, recourse to the override constitutes a legitimate means for legislatures to advance alternate interpretations of Charter rights. Furthermore, section 33's value lies in the opportunity it creates for public deliberation regarding issues of national importance. Its relative disuse can be attributed to a combination of factors including its legislative history, the influence of American constitutionalism and an executive-dominated parliamentary process. Recognizing the legitimacy of section 33 would contribute to a greater respect for the roles and responsibilities of all three branches of government under a system of constitutional supremacy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.112336 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Forrest, Christopher. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Political Science.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002769220, proquestno: AAIMR51374, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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