Limitations on Rights' in a Constitutional Democracy: Models of Judicial Review under Canada's Charter

• Author: Lorraine Eisenstat Weinrib
• Position: Associate Professor of Law and Political Science, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, Canada
• Pages: 428-458

“LimitationsonRights”in aConstitutionalDemocracy:

ModelsofJudicialReviewunderCanada'sCharter

LorraineEisenstatWeinrib*

I.Introduction

II. InterpretiveDevelopment:InstitutionalRoleunderCanada’s

Charter

III.MajoritarianDemocracy

IV. AnAlternativeModel:TheSupremacyofRightsProtection

V.TheOakesDoctrineandtheOakesTestwithintheSupreme

LawModel

VI.TheModelofConstitutionalDemocracyembeddedinIsrael's

newBasicLaws

VII.TheModelofConstitutionalDemocracyembeddedinthe

SouthAfricanConstitution

VIII.Conclusion

AssociateProfessorofLawandPoliticalScience,FacultyofLaw, University

ofToronto* Canada

428

ModelsofJudicialReview429

I.Introduction

ThelimitationclausesadoptedinthetwonewIsraeliBasicLaws'

andinthenewSouthAfricanConstitution2,evokememoriesof

Canada'slongdebateontheplaceofrightsprotectionina

constitutionaldemocracyhithertobasedonlegislativesupremacy.

Thatdebateculminatedinthetextofs.1oftheCanadianCharter

ofRightsandFreedoms,1982,whichbothguaranteesandjustifies

limitationupontheCharter’s rightsandfreedoms;

TheCanadianCharterofRightsandFreedomsguaranteesthe

rightsandfreedomssetoutinitsubjectonlytosuchreasonable

limitsprescribedby lawascan bedemonstrablyjustifiedinafree

anddemocraticsociety.

AtthecoreoftheCanadiandebatewastheissueofjudicial

review;onwhatbasiscouldunelectedandpoliticallyunaccountable

judgesarticulatethescopeofand limitationsuponguaranteedrights?

Thedramaticturnsintheinterpretivehistoryofs.1intheCanadian

courtsinjustfifteenyears,whicharethesubjectofthisEssay,make

clearthattheCanadiandebatedidnot endwiththeadoption,after

manyefforts,ofthe narrowestandmostprincipledversionamongthe

limitationclausesconsidered.Thecontroversymerelyshiftedfrom

theoriesofconstitutionaldesigntoconstitutionalinterpretation.

ThisEssayanalysesthetwomodelsofjudicialreviewimplicitin

thedivergentapproachestolimitationonrightsunderCanada's

Charter.Thefirstmodel,whichgivespre-eminencetomajoritarian

ForteMtanddiscussion,seepartVI.infra.

Fortextanddiscussion* seepartVII*infro